Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Raises Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,438 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. Wall Street Zen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $132.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.76 and a 200 day moving average of $135.37. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 68.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $95,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,410.90. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.