Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Upgraded to “Outperform” by Evercore ISI

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) was upgraded by analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $150.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $133.00. Evercore ISI’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.86% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,253,000. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 240,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,103,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,661,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,740,000 after purchasing an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.