Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $128.93, but opened at $138.96. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $136.02, with a volume of 1,734,416 shares traded.

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 return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,090,000 after acquiring an additional 177,712 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,345,000 after acquiring an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,650,000 after acquiring an additional 155,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $437,420,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40.

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.