Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) PT Raised to $150.00 at HSBC

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at HSBC from $146.00 to $150.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. HSBC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.10% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.21.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.1 %

KMB stock traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,548,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,642. The company has a market cap of $46.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $124.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value 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 through the SEC website. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $437,420,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,155 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after acquiring an additional 641,187 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,163,000 after purchasing an additional 386,497 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.