Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target Raised to $132.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Barclays from $124.00 to $132.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.39% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $125.25. 484,922 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,074,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.18. The company has a market cap of $42.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $147.87.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter worth approximately $96,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after buying an additional 34,646 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,066,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company's Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.