Dallas, Texas-based Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) manufactures personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States and internationally. With a market cap of $48 billion, Kimberly-Clark operates through the Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional segments.
The personal care giant has underperformed the broader market over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks, KMB is up 12.8% lagging behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 26.1% returns. However, in 2024 KMB rallied 17.2%, slightly outperforming SPX’s 16.5% gains on a YTD basis.
Narrowing the focus, KMB outperformed the S&P 500 Cons Staples Sector SPDR’s (XLP) 9.6% returns over the past 52 weeks and 11.8% gains on a YTD basis.
Shares of Kimberly-Clark dipped 5.7% after its Q2 earnings release on Jul. 23. The company’s net sales declined 2.1% annually to $5.03 billion, missing analysts’ expectations, which potentially led to the fall in share prices. However, the company reported an 18.8% growth in adjusted EPS to $1.96, surpassing the consensus estimates by 16.7%. Moreover, KMB shares rebounded 3.4% in the subsequent trading session.
For the current fiscal year, ending in December, analysts anticipate Kimberly-Clark’s EPS to grow 10.4% annually to $7.25. The company’s earnings surprise history is mixed. It surpassed the consensus estimates in three of the past four quarters while missing on one other occasion.
Among the 19 analysts covering the KMB stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy,” a step up from a “Hold” rating three months before. That’s based on six “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” 10 “Holds,” and two “Strong Sells.”
This configuration is slightly more bullish than a month ago, with five analysts recommending a “Strong Buy.”
On Jul. 24, RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi maintained an “Outperform” rating with a price target of $165.
KMB’s mean price target of $146.67 represents a premium of 3% from current price levels. The street-high target of $175 indicates a potential upside of 22.8%.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
