KBC Group NV Trims Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,132,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188,623 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.34% of Kimberly-Clark worth $161,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,751,000. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,956,000 after buying an additional 6,392 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after buying an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 107.8% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 12,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 6,293 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $132.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.23. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

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.