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Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB)

Consumer Defensive BalancedS&P 500

Ever wondered who makes the loo roll and tissues filling up supermarket aisles? Meet the global household giant behind Kleenex and Huggies.

$98.15

Is Kimberly-Clark Corporation a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: owns household-name brands that people reach for out of habit. Worth weighing: relatively slow revenue growth year-on-year.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-29.0%
= past earnings-report date
Priced in USD. As a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, even inside an ISA - a stronger pound can trim your £ gains and a weaker pound can add to them, whatever the share price itself does.
52-week range-10% past year
$98.15
Low $92.42High $136.17
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.

Is this normal for this company?

Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.

Price to earnings
12.6now
13.018.2

Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.

Net profit margin
8.2%now
8.2%16.0%

Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.

How these ranges are built

Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.

What does Kimberly-Clark Corporation do?

Kimberly-Clark lives in your bathroom cabinet, making everyday essentials like nappies, facial tissues, and wet wipes that people keep buying no matter what the wider economy is doing. It makes its money by shifting huge volumes of these trusted brand names to supermarkets and shops worldwide. The key factor to keep an eye on is whether it can keep raising prices to offset the cost of raw materials without sending shoppers running to cheaper supermarket own-brands.

On our factor screen it looks strongest on income and value, and weakest on growth.

Quick checks
What's strong
What to watch
  • Growth screens low

Does Kimberly-Clark Corporation pay a dividend?

Yes - Kimberly-Clark Corporation currently pays a dividend of about 4.7% a year, which is £47 a year for every £1,000 invested (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it. An ISA doesn't shelter the US tax on this one →

What do the numbers say about Kimberly-Clark Corporation's dividend?

There's no rating here, and we don't judge whether the dividend will continue - that would be advice. Here are the figures income investors usually look at, and what each one means, so you can weigh it up yourself.

Dividend yield4.7%£47 a year for every £1,000 invested. The yearly dividend as a percentage of today's price. A very high figure often means the price has fallen because the market expects a cut, so a big yield is a question to look into, not a prize.
Payout ratio100%about 100 in every 100 pounds of profit. The share of profit paid out as dividends. A lower figure leaves headroom; near or above 100% means most or all of the profit is going out as dividends.
Dividend cover1.0×Profit divided by the dividend (the payout ratio the other way up). As a rough convention many income investors like around 2× or more; below 1× means the company paid out more than it earned that year.

Figures are from the latest available data and can be distorted by one-off results. Past payments don't predict future ones, and a dividend can be cut at any time. This lays out the numbers to help you understand them - it is not a view on what will happen.

Most recent ex-dividend date: 5 Jun 2026. To receive a dividend you must already own the shares before the ex-dividend date; become a holder on or after it and the previous owner keeps that payment. Why the price usually falls that morning →

Does Kimberly-Clark Corporation have more cash or more debt?

It holds about $956.00M in cash against about $6.54B of debt - so it has net debt of about $5.58B. Debt is not automatically a problem - it funds growth - but it has to be serviced and repaid, which matters more when profits wobble.

From the latest reported balance sheet. Cash and debt levels change, and some borrowing is normal - this is context, not a judgment.

What do Kimberly-Clark Corporation's numbers mean?

P/E
21.46
This shows you are paying roughly 21 pounds for every pound of current yearly profit the company makes.
Around the middle of the 51 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Dividend yield
4.7%
This is the annual cash reward paid out to shareholders, expressed as a percentage of the share price.
Higher than most of the 59 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Gross margin
37.6%
For every pound of revenue brought in from selling goods, about 37 pence is left over after paying for the direct cost of making them.
Around the middle of the 59 Consumer Defensive shares we cover
Beta
0.3
A very low score, meaning the share price tends to wobble a lot less than the wider stock market.

How has it performed?

Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
If you had put $1,000 into Kimberly-Clark Corporation
$710-29%

Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

How much has Kimberly-Clark Corporation actually fallen?

−37%

Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Kimberly-Clark Corporation fell as much as −37% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.

Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.

How has it done year by year?

2022-2%
2023-7%
2024+12%
2025-20%
2026 so far+10%

Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.

A closer look at the numbers

Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$36.04B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
4.44M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$97.30 – $99.50
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$92.42 – $136.17
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
21.5
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
4.7%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.28

Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?

One share costs$98.15
Number of shares367 million
So the whole company is worth$36.04bn
A £5 share is not cheaper than a £500 one - it means the company cut itself into more slices. Whether the total looks high or low is what the figures below are for; we don't give a verdict.

Who owns Kimberly-Clark Corporation?

Big institutions 95%Company insiders 1%Public & smaller investors 4%

About 95% of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, or about 95 in every 100 shares, is held by big institutions such as pension and index funds, and company insiders hold about 1%. The rest, roughly 4%, is held by the public and smaller investors.

What this does and doesn't tell you

This is a recent snapshot of the share register, and it moves. We don't read anything into who owns what - a high institutional share is common for any large listed company and is not a signal about it.

How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.28
Calm
Wild
Steadier than most

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -1% past week · ▼ -10% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

How much money does Kimberly-Clark Corporation make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$1.05B$2.09B$3.14B$4.19BQ2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26
Gross margin
37.6%
Net margin
11.8%
Return on equity
104.9%

Where does each £100 of Kimberly-Clark Corporation's sales go?

Making the product or service £62Running costs, tax and interest £26Left as profit £12

A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £62 covers making the product or service, £26 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £12 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.

When does Kimberly-Clark Corporation report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-03 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation: reported versus expected earnings per share, recent quarters
ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-08-04$2.01$2.12Beat +6%
2026-04-28$1.93$1.97Beat +2%
2026-01-27$1.81$1.86Beat +3%
2025-10-30$1.75$1.82Beat +4%
2025-08-01$1.66$1.92Beat +16%
2025-04-22$1.89$1.93Beat +2%

Across the last 6 quarters here, Kimberly-Clark Corporation came in ahead of what analysts expected 6 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Where these figures come from

Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.

What are the scenarios for Kimberly-Clark Corporation?

An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.

◀ lowerhigher ▶todayBull▲ UpsideBase• In-lineBear▼ Downside
Bull
+5% to +12%stronger quarterly cost savings and steady demand for essential goods
Base
-2% to +4%steady trading in line with seasonal household spending patterns
Bear
-10% to -4%higher raw material expenses squeezing profit margins unexpectedly

What are the pros, cons and common questions?

The case each way, and the questions people ask
The bull case

sustained margin expansion through efficient manufacturing and steady dividend payouts

The bear case

prolonged demographic shifts or permanent loss of brand loyalty to cheaper alternatives

What are the pros and cons of Kimberly-Clark Corporation?

4bull points
6bear points

A balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case4
  • owns household-name brands that people reach for out of habit
  • generous dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone. relative to the broader market
  • defensive: A business whose demand holds up whatever the economy does - food, utilities, medicines. Steadier, though often slower-growing. qualities with a very low beta suggesting calmer price swings
  • steady consumer demand even during economic downturns
The catch3
  • relatively slow revenue growth: How fast the company's sales grew versus a year ago. year-on-year
  • high price-to-book: The share price versus the company's net assets per share (its book value). Under 1 can look cheap, though it varies a lot by industry. ratio pointing to an expensive valuation on paper
  • vulnerable to fluctuations in the cost of raw materials like paper pulp
Key risks3
  • shoppers switching to cheaper supermarket private-label alternatives
  • rising manufacturing and logistics expenses squeezing profit margins
  • foreign exchange movements eating into international profits
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

  • a sustained acceleration in organic volume growth across core markets
  • a permanent shift in profit margins away from historical norms

Common questions about Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Does Kimberly-Clark Corporation pay a dividend?

Yes - Kimberly-Clark Corporation currently pays a dividend of about 4.7% a year. Dividends are a share of profit paid to holders; the yield moves with the price and payouts can be cut.

When does Kimberly-Clark Corporation report earnings next?

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-11-03. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.

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Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Prices as of 11 Sep 2026; other figures as of 11 Aug 2026. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.