Falling Dividend King & Aristocrat - KMB

11/03 Earlier today, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) announced plans to acquire fellow consumer brands entity Kenvue (KVUE) for almost $50B. The market reaction seems to suggest that KMB overpaid for its rival. Shares ended the day down 14.58% @ $102.80, but had crossed below $100/sh during earlier trading.
Any KMB shareholders worried about this development, and its affect on the long running royalty status?

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KMB is a personal care, and KVUE is healthcare brand, not really a rival. I understand the logic behind the investment banker who sold the deal, let us create a mini P&G. There are execution risks, and the synergies are not easy to realize. It needs be seen whether they can realize the savings. If $KMB can execute and realize the savings they are talking about, then the price is not bad.

Not a $KMB shareholder. If they stumble a quarter or two and problems look fixable and share price decline another 20% or 30%, I might be interested. :slight_smile:

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This is indeed a concern. KMB already was at a very high payout ratio for their dividend (>80% of earnings), so if they have depressed earnings for a while, I wonder if they can maintain and increase the dividend each year to remain an “aristocrat”?

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Hmm! - Ok. But I’m sure big retailers like Walmart, Target, etc. would put a lot of products of the two companies in some general areas