Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $140.07, but opened at $133.08. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $135.80, with a volume of 543,207 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.31.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $45.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $139.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.67.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.