Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Acquires New Shares in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,028,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 464,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,615,000 after acquiring an additional 12,768 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 9,643 shares during the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 108.6% in the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 45,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 23,472 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 106,600.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 7,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 7,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 16,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,198,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $126.84 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $134.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.74. The company has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 68.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on KMB. Barclays lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at $518,410.90. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.