Royal Bank of Canada Increases Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $126.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price target increased by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $123.00 to $126.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential downside of 7.64% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on KMB. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. 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. HSBC increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 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, Barclays increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.50.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $136.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $147.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $125.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $437,420,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,155 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake 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 worth $265,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,163,000 after purchasing an additional 386,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.