Report
Erin Lash
EUR 101.80 For Business Accounts Only

Sluggish Sales Fail to Dampen Prospects for Further Margin Gains at Kimberly; Shares a Bit Elevated

Intense competition and muted category growth again constrained narrow-moat Kimberly-Clark’s top line in the fourth quarter; organic sales edged up just 1%, reflecting lower prices and unfavorable mix that ate into modestly higher volumes. However, the firm chalked up margin gains, as adjusted gross margins expanded 100 basis points to 37% and adjusted operating margins jumped 170 basis points to 18.9%. A portion of this improvement resulted from input cost deflation (which is likely to reverse,...
Underlying
Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Kimberly-Clark is principally engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of a range of products primarily made from natural or synthetic fibers using technologies in fibers, nonwovens and absorbency. The company is organized into three operating segments: Personal Care, which provides solutions and products such as disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products; Consumer Tissue, which provides facial and bathroom tissue, paper towels, napkins and related products; and K-C Professional, which provides a range of solutions and supporting products such as wipers, tissue, towels, apparel, soaps and sanitizers.

Provider
Morningstar
Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offer an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors.

Morningstar provides data on approximately 530,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 18 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had approximately $185 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2016.

We have operations in 27 countries.

Analysts
Erin Lash

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