Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $130.00. The stock had previously closed at $119.71, but opened at $104.69. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $104.4750, with a volume of 12,660,629 shares.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $149.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold (c+)” rating for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principle Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 43,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,362,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.9% during the third quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 35,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,413,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 12.1% during the third quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 4,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 9,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.9% during the third quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 184.87% and a net margin of 12.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.