Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.40 EPS

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40, Briefing.com reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.0 %

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.36. 1,054,083 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,190,500. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

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