Kimberly-Clark Corporation Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (KMB)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A+ . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, increase in net income, expanding profit margins and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• KMB's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 34.63% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, KMB should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and greatly outperformed compared to the Household Products industry average. The net income increased by 22.1% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $408.00 million to $498.00 million.
• 37.70% is the gross profit margin for KIMBERLY-CLARK CORP which we consider to be strong. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Regardless of the strong results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 9.50% trails the industry average.
• The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. In comparison to other companies in the Household Products industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, KIMBERLY-CLARK CORP has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has greatly exceeded that of the S&P 500.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacturing and marketing health care products worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, K-C Professional and Other, and Health Care. The company has a P/E ratio of 18.4, equal to the average consumer non-durables industry P/E ratioand above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Kimberly-Clark has a market cap of $32.87 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector and consumer non-durables industry. Shares are up 13.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full Kimberly-Clark Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on Kimberly-Clark Corporation click any of the following:

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Stock Price

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Analyst Ratings

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Key Stats & Profile

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Earnings

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Ratio Comparison

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Growth Rates

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Balance Sheet

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Cash Flow

• Kimberly-Clark Corporation Income Statement