HUB Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,112 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,993 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 6,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 3,776 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 427,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,003,000 after acquiring an additional 136,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 6,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE KMB opened at $139.05 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.02 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $46.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

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.