Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s stock
KMB,
fell 1.6% early Wednesday, after the company posted weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. The company said it had net income of $509 million, or $1.50 a share, in the quarter, slightly higher than the $507 million, or $1.50 a share, posted in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.51, below the $1.54 FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $4.970 billion from $4.964 billion a year ago, also below the $4.989 billion FactSet consensus. The parent to consumer brands including Huggies diapers and Scott and Kleenex tissues said earnings were boosted by strong results in its personal care segment. “We enter 2024 having advanced the Company’s strategic foundation and financial position, and with confidence this phase of cost recovery and supply chain stabilization is largely behind us,” Chief Executive Mike Hsu said in a statement. The company will host an Investor Day in March to detail its priorities for the future, he said. For 2024, Kimberly-Clark is expecting organic sales to grow at a low-to-mid single digit percentage rate and EPS to grow at a high single-digit rate on a constant-currency basis versus the prior year period. Organic sales also strip out currency and the effects of acquisitions and disposals. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 3.4% to $1.22 a share. The new dividend is payable April 2 to shareholders of record as of March 8. The stock has fallen 7% in the last 12 months.
