Sentry Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,276 Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE KMB opened at $141.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $120.49 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.45. The firm has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. This is a positive change 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 presently 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.