Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Releases Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50, Zacks reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $131.27 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.56.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.71.

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.