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Kimberly-Clark (KMB) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Kimberly-Clark (KMB - Free Report) closed at $114.18, marking a +0.86% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.65%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.86%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.24%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of consumer products such as Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissue had lost 7.22% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 6.4% and was narrower than the S&P 500's loss of 8.99% in that time.

Kimberly-Clark will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 25, 2022. On that day, Kimberly-Clark is projected to report earnings of $1.48 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 8.64%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.02 billion, up 0.2% from the year-ago period.

KMB's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.59 per share and revenue of $20.07 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -9.55% and +3.25%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Kimberly-Clark. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.92% lower. Kimberly-Clark is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Kimberly-Clark is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.25. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.32, which means Kimberly-Clark is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that KMB has a PEG ratio of 3.95 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Consumer Products - Staples stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.82 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Consumer Products - Staples industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 137, which puts it in the bottom 46% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow KMB in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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