Kimberly-Clark Declared a Quarterly Dividend of $0.92 Per Share

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) has a market cap of $47.3 billion. It rose by 0.97% to close at $130.81 per share on August 1, 2016.

The stock’s weekly, monthly, and year-to-date (or YTD) price movements were -1.3%, -4.9%, and 4.2%, respectively, on the same day. KMB is trading 2.7% below its 20-day moving average, 0.76% below its 50-day moving average, and 3.0% above its 200-day moving average.

The PowerShares DWA Consumer Staples Momentum ETF (PSL) invests 2.0% of its holdings in Kimberly-Clark. The ETF tracks an index of US consumer cyclical companies selected and weighted by price momentum. The YTD price movement of PSL was 4.5% on August 1.

The PowerShares High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (PEY) invests 1.7% of its holdings in Kimberly-Clark. The ETF aims to track a yield-weighted index of US companies that have increased their annual dividends for at least ten consecutive years.

The market caps of Kimberly-Clark’s competitors are as follows:

• Procter & Gamble Company (PG) — $232.3 billion
• Edgewell Personal Care Company (EPC) — $5.0 billion

Kimberly-Clark has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share on its common stock. The dividend will be paid on October 4, 2016, to shareholders of record on September 9, 2016.

Kimberly-Clark reported 2Q16 net sales of ~$4.6 billion, a fall of 1.2% from its net sales of ~$4.6 billion in 2Q15. Sales from its personal care, consumer tissue, and KC professional segments fell by 1.2%, 0.33%, and 1.9%, respectively, between 2Q15 and 2Q16. The company’s gross profit margin rose by 1.6%. It reported operating income of $838.0 million in 2Q16, compared to -$544.0 million in 2Q15.

Its net income and EPS (earnings per share) rose to $566.0 million and $1.56, respectively, in 2Q16, compared to $305.0 million and -$0.83, respectively, in 2Q15. It reported non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) EPS of $1.53 in 2Q16, a rise of 8.5% over 2Q15.

KMB’s cash and cash equivalents rose by 6.0%, and its inventories fell by 5.3% between 4Q15 and 1Q16. Its current ratio rose to 0.98x in 2Q16, compared to 0.85x in 4Q15. During 2Q16, the company repurchased 1.1 million of its shares worth $150 million.

Kimberly-Clark has made the following projections for 2016:

• negative foreign currency translation on net sales and organic net sales growth at the low end of 3%–5%, reflecting lower expected benefits from price increases due to an improved currency outlook
• operating profits in the range of 4%–5%
• cost savings in the range of $350 million–$400 million from its FORCE (Focus on Reducing Costs Everywhere) program
• EPS in the range of $5.92–$6.15 and adjusted EPS in the range of $5.95–$6.15
• share repurchases in the range of $700 million–$800 million

In the next part of this series, we’ll take a look at Coach (COH).