10 Best Household and Personal Care Stocks to Buy

4. Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 43

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) is one of the industry’s top manufacturers of tissue and hygiene products; its brands include Huggies, PullUps, Kotex, Depend, Kleenex, and Cottonelle. It also runs a company called K-C Professional, which works with companies to offer hygienic and safety solutions for the workplace. The company makes up more than fifty percent of its sales from personal care products and another third from consumer tissue products. The remaining sales are mostly from Asia and Latin America.

Similar to its contenders, the company has faced numerous difficulties, such as a sluggish economy and increased cost pressures. In this regard, management has been candid about the company’s declining market share and the fact that consumers are increasingly moving to less expensive options in certain categories to save money. However, given that supply and demand imbalances in the industry have largely been resolved, analysts believe this could lead to a spike in growth throughout the company’s categories.

Having a goal toward approximately $3.7 billion in savings and productivity gains, Kimberly is about to unlock efficiency and cut costs through technological advancements, supply chain enhancements, and organizational reorganization, as per Morningstar analysts. This should encourage reinvestment in the company while increasing earnings.

With a $160 price target, Bank of America Securities’ Anna Lizzul kept her Buy rating on the firm. Its impressive EPS performance, personal care volume growth, and margin expansion more than make up for the minor top-line disappointment. Lizzul is confident that Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) can overcome cost obstacles and leverage its growth plans, as seen by its optimistic forecast.

It is also one of the “10 Stocks Jim Cramer Thinks You Should Check Out.” He states:

“Kimberly-Clark is a Dallas-based company, and like the best NFL defenses, it can give you steady production from its 3.3% yield along with upside from real organic growth. They had 4% organic growth in the most recent quarter, and with rate cuts on the horizon, it’ll be a good year for high-yielding consumer staples, and Kimberly-Clark is among the best of the best. Hence the Cowboys analogy. Cowboys, don’t get mad at me—I thought your defense was great! You annihilated us Eagles when we went down to see you in Dallas.”

Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management is the largest shareholder in the company, with 9,025,827 shares worth $875.87 million.