HSBC Increases Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $146.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price lifted by HSBC from $134.00 to $146.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. HSBC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America cut Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.53.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $127.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $147.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 123,302.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,430,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,394,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,568 shares during the period. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $437,420,000. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 13,781.2% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,763,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,743,704 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.