Kimberly-Clark's (KMB) shares, first discussed here on June 22, 2009, at a price of $51.06, continue to cycle in a $61 to $67 range. Hence, if you haven't already, now may be good time consider taking some profits, if you're in near $51.

However, other investors who tolerate the risk and maintain their full position in KMB, but keep in mind the stock gains from here will likely be tough to achieve in 2011. Also, if you're looking for a decent dividend, it's worth it to retain KMB, given its $2.80 annual dividend, good for a 4.4% yield at the current share price.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark: For Dividend Seekers Only

Kimberly-Clark: For Dividend Seekers Only originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"When it comes to longevity, it's hard to beat the Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB); this US paper and healthcare product manufacturer was founded in 1872," says income expert Amy Calistri.

The editor of The Daily Paycheck explains, "While we tend to think of as a staid and steady company, Kimberly-Clark has a long history of innovation, supporting a lifetime of earnings and dividend growth.

"Kimberly-Clark was the first company to put toilet tissue on a roll. It invented the 'disposable handkerchief' -- or what we know as the iconic Kleenex.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Clean Up with Kleenex

Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Clean Up with Kleenex originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a consumer products company that counts Procter & Gamble (PG) as a colleague, is a very interesting stock for two reasons. First, it's not too far away from its 52-week high. Second, it's trading with an extremely nice dividend yield attached. Those two elements can't help but make an investor take notice.

In fact, speaking about the dividend yield, according to the company's Q4 earnings results, management has increased the quarterly payout by 6% to 70 cents per share. Excellent news. Based on Tuesday's closing price of $65.61, a quote that found the stock up by 2.6% on significant volume, the yield on the shares is now roughly 4.3%.

Continue reading Should We Be Bullish on Kimberly-Clark?

Should We Be Bullish on Kimberly-Clark? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark: At This Stage, a Dividend Play

Kimberly-Clark: At This Stage, a Dividend Play originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark Earnings: Time to Buy or Sell?

Kimberly-Clark Earnings: Time to Buy or Sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you considered Kimberly-Clark (KMB), first discussed here on June 22, 2009, at a price of $51.06, during the stock's summer side-ways action, it proved to be a prudent move, as the shares have powered ahead since then.

In 2010, look for Kimberly's revenue to increase 5% to 6%, aided by impressive growth in emerging markets, particularly in KMB's personal care and health care units.

Kimberly has successfully positioned itself as a global consumer products/personal products company, with 50% of its sales outside the U.S., including about 30% from Asia/Latin America. A cost containment program that's yielding results and a nice $2.64 annual dividend add to the positive mix.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark: Well-Positioned for Emerging Market Growth

Kimberly-Clark: Well-Positioned for Emerging Market Growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) to buy from hold based on valuation. The firm keeps a $39 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Kenexa (KNXA) to overweight from neutral, citing a strengthening of trends for the company. The firm has a $29 price target on the stock.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Gaylord Entertainment (GET) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from strong trends in 2011. The firm raised its target for shares to $35 from $32.50.
• MeadWestvaco (MWV) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• EADS (EADSY) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BAC, CPB, CSX, DPS, GET, KMB, KNXA, MGA, MKGAY, UA ...

Analyst Calls: BAC, CPB, CSX, DPS, GET, KMB, KNXA, MGA, MKGAY, UA ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is Now a Good Time to Consider Kimberly-Clark?

Is Now a Good Time to Consider Kimberly-Clark? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm going to take a brief look at two earnings releases from the week. One involves a business backed by an iconic piece of financial plastic while the other concerns a company that is a dividend play based on brands such as Kleenex.

American Express (AXP), which competes with MasterCard (MA) and Visa (V), had a great Q1. Reuters says that the company made 73 cents per share, a number that is nine pennies ahead of analyst projections. The growth in net income was impressive, and it shows that the economy is performing a lot better than it once was.

Continue reading Two Quarterly Releases: American Express and Kimberly-Clark

Two Quarterly Releases: American Express and Kimberly-Clark originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hugo Chavez Racing Toward Economic Peril

Hugo Chavez Racing Toward Economic Peril originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been a busy week in the equities market. Earnings reports are coming fast and furious. I thought I would catch up on a few companies with a brief look at their numbers.

First up is an entity from the consumer products sector. Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a colleague of Procter & Gamble (PG), issued fourth-quarter data on Friday. Sales increased over 8%, with a better currency environment helping things out. Organic sales powered up almost 3%, driven in part by higher prices. Per-share profit went up over 15% to $1.17.

Continue reading A Look at Three Quarterly Reports: Kimberly-Clark, Xerox, American Express

A Look at Three Quarterly Reports: Kimberly-Clark, Xerox, American Express originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Procter & Gamble (PG), whose related companies include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB), is yet another stock close to a 52-week high. Is it too high to buy, or is it likely to be a prudent defensive holding for 2010?

P&G's price action is pretty interesting. Even though it's near a 52-week high, it's actually flat on the year-to-date frame in terms of performance. That doesn't include dividend payments, of course, but nevertheless, there have been so many other stocks that have bounced off the March lows and delivered serious price appreciation superior to what P&G has been able to accomplish. This is one argument for the stock, since you might not have to worry about it being overbought relative to other equities.

Continue reading Procter & Gamble: A Defensive Holding for 2010?

Procter & Gamble: A Defensive Holding for 2010? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The rest of the world is going to help U.S. consumer product manufacturers next year. Look for international growth to push the likes of Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Avon (AVP) and Clorox (CLX) higher in 2010, according to Fitch Ratings. In an interview with Reuters, a director gave the Fitch's outlook for consumer goods.

The household and personal care segments increased revenue every year from 2003 to 2008. So, 2009 was but a bump in the road. Even in a recession, you need toilet paper and shampoo, so expect the spending to come back.

Continue reading Consumer goods to gain 5% next year, according to Fitch

Consumer goods to gain 5% next year, according to Fitch originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB), a consumer products entity whose colleagues include Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), is up today on third-quarter results. At the time of this writing, my screen was showing shares of Kimberly-Clark higher by a little under 6%.

According to the corporate press release, sales declined 1.7%. Not a great start, but Kimberly-Clark highlighted a better metric: organic sales increased 3%, helped along by price increases. Luckily, sales volume didn't fare too badly; they were essentially flat.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark high on Q3 data

Kimberly-Clark high on Q3 data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), a consumer-products company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as colleagues, announced Q2 results on Thursday. The performance wasn't spectacular, but management successfully defended the bottom line from the recession by instituting pricing strategies that leveraged the brand equity of the company's portfolio.

The bottom line fell, of course, but probably not as far as it would have if there weren't any pricing mechanisms in place. Earnings per share came in at 97 cents. This was six cents lower than last year's adjusted Q2 income. Revenues were challenged by dollar fluctuations, dropping well over 5%. However, here's the silver lining: organic sales increased almost 3%, even with volumes on the decline.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark up on Q2 numbers

Kimberly-Clark up on Q2 numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I would think that all of the diapers the latest FightBaby goes through may have helped Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) a bit, but that was not the case.

The home of Kleenex and Huggies announced yesterday that it will cut 1,600 jobs, roughly 3% of its total workforce. A majority of the cuts will come from salaried and nonproduction workers; the company does not plan to close any plants. The company believes that these cuts will save roughly $150 million a year, or 25 cents per share. These results will be reflected the most in the second quarter, when the company will record $110 million of the costs.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark cuts 3% of its staff

Kimberly-Clark cuts 3% of its staff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shareholders of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) received some not-so-cool news on Wednesday. The consumer-products business was subjected to a downgrade courtesy of Linda Bolton Weiser of Caris & Co. The analyst changed the designation on Colgate-Palmolive from "Buy" to "Above Average." The effects of currency translations is what she's worried about. She believes that they could be a drag on earnings.

If you're a long-term shareholder, I probably wouldn't worry too much about this downgrade. The stock didn't react much to the news, dropping only modestly at the end of the trading session on Wednesday (it was down like 0.3%). Obviously Colgate-Palmolive, like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Clorox (NYSE: CLX), and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), has great potential as a core investment because of its brand portfolio.

Continue reading Colgate-Palmolive downgraded on currency exposure

Colgate-Palmolive downgraded on currency exposure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares surged after earnings easily topped Q4 expectations.
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) reported that its Q4 earnings fell while its revenue rose marginally.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted a big loss and lower revenue due to strikes and design changes.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported that Q4 profit fell despite higher revenue and lowered its guidance.
• Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) lower Q4 profit topped analysts' estimates, sending shares higher.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) reported a Q4 net loss and announced additional job cuts.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Amazon, Boeing, Caterpillar, Hershey, AT&T and others

Earnings highlights: Amazon, Boeing, Caterpillar, Hershey, AT&T and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer-products company Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB), whose colleagues include The Procter & Gamble Compay (NYSE: PG) and Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR), reported earnings for the fourth quarter, and they weren't great, at least to me. Sales decreased over 3%, and earnings per share were $1.01 on an adjusted basis, which represented a dive of 9%. According to Stocks in the News, that missed estimates by the proverbial penny. Another weak showing was cash from operations, which fell by 1%. Not disastrous, maybe, and certainly understandable, but disappointing, nevertheless.

One thing to keep in mind is that the swings in the value of the dollar affected net sales. Organic growth actually expanded by 5% in the quarter. Kimberly-Clark doesn't expect much to happen in 2009. Management's headline in the release states that adjusted earnings should be between $4 and $4.20 per share next year. This year, earnings were $4.14 per share. Also to keep in mind is that management is watching pension expenses.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark: No growth in Q4

Kimberly-Clark: No growth in Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"If you're going to stay invested, you should look to defensive sectors," explain Ron Rowland and Brandon Clay, who point to consumer staples as a top pick for the current market environment.

In their Invest with an Edge, the advisors explain, "Perhaps the best way to stay defensive is with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLP), an exchange traded fund.

"In a bear market, opportunities are usually limited to certain sectors. Surveying the investment horizon, we think the consumer staples sector has the best opportunity for growth in this economy.

"Regardless how the economy acts, people still eat. Consumers may not shop at Whole Foods, but they'll still buy groceries. Companies like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Safeway (NYSE: SWY) will continue to rake in revenues from hungry customers.

"In addition, these companies should continue to receive additional revenue from consumers who normally shop at specialty stores, but can no longer afford to.

"Consumers may not be shopping at Sharper Image any more, but there are other creature comforts that will be difficult for Americans to abandon.

"Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) will still sell products during a prolonged downturn. In addition, companies providing toiletries and convenience like Procter and Gamble and CVS Pharmacy stand to do well during a shifty economy.

Continue reading Stay defensive: Invest in consumer staples

Stay defensive: Invest in consumer staples originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.