Top 20 Dividend Stocks of 2024

13. Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) is a Texas-based multinational consumer goods and personal care company. The company has a strong dividend history, having raised its payouts for 52 consecutive years. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.73%, as of December 30. In the past 12 months, the stock has surged by nearly 7%, which makes KMB one of the best dividend stocks on our list.

In the third quarter of 2024, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) reported $4.95 billion in revenue, representing a 4% year-over-year decline. The company is advancing its “Powering Care” strategy to drive innovation, cut costs, and offer improved solutions across various price ranges. Efforts to streamline operations aim to boost agility and responsiveness in the marketplace. Despite the revenue drop, Kimberly-Clark is on track to deliver strong growth in operating profit, margins, and earnings per share for 2024, while also focusing on sustaining momentum into 2025.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) demonstrated robust cash generation in 2024. Over the first nine months, the company reported $2.4 billion in operating cash flow, up from $2.3 billion during the same period the previous year. It also returned $2 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases.

As of the end of Q3 2024, 45 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database held stakes in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB), up from 43 in the previous quarter. The overall value of these stakes is more than $1 billion. With nearly 1.3 million shares, D E Shaw was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q3.