Townsquare Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,484 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after acquiring an additional 21,339 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,751,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,956,000 after buying an additional 6,392 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after buying an additional 11,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $36,608,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $139.20 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $138.52 and its 200 day moving average is $139.21. The company has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.