EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 2,680 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB – Get Rating) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,808 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 44.6% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,498,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,738,000 after buying an additional 770,620 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 202.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 975,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,818,000 after buying an additional 652,880 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,658,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,542,866,000 after buying an additional 606,657 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,125,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,277,796,000 after buying an additional 489,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.16% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $126.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.83, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $144.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.83 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.39.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.03. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 264.67%. The business had revenue of $4.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $1.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $139.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.00.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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Kimberly-Clark Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of products made from natural or synthetic fibers. It operates through the following segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swim pants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products.