Updated on January 23rd, 2023 by Quinn Mohammed
Investors looking for high-quality dividend growth stocks should take a closer look at the Dividend Aristocrats, a group of 65 companies in the S&P 500 Index with 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases.
With this in mind, we created a list of all 65 Dividend Aristocrats.
You can download the full spreadsheet of all 65 Dividend Aristocrats, along with several important financial metrics such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios, by clicking on the link below:
We review each of the Dividend Aristocrats annually, and the next stock in this year’s edition is consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark (KMB).
Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend for a very impressive 50 consecutive years. Its most recent increase placed Kimberly-Clark on the exclusive Dividend Kings list.
The stock also currently has a 3.4% dividend yield, which is more than double the ~1.6% average dividend yield of the S&P 500 Index.
This article will discuss Kimberly-Clark’s business model, growth potential, and whether the stock is currently trading at an attractive valuation.
Business Overview
Kimberly-Clark traces its beginnings back to 1872. Four young businessmen, John A. Kimberly, Havilah Babcock, Charles B. Clark, and Frank C. Shattuck, came up with $30,000 of start-up capital to form Kimberly, Clark and Co.
Today, Kimberly-Clark is a global consumer products company that operates in 175 countries and sells disposable consumer goods, including paper towels, diapers, and tissues.
It operates through two segments that each house many popular brands: Personal Care Segment (Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Depend, Poise) and the Consumer Tissue segment (Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva), generating nearly $20 billion in annual revenue.
Source: Investor Presentation
Kimberly-Clark reported third-quarter 2022 earnings on October 25th, 2022. While the company surpassed estimates on the top line, it missed estimates at the bottom line. The company achieved revenue of $5.05 billion, a near 1% year-over-year increase, and adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.40.
Increased prices, implemented to offset inflationary costs, led to a 9% gain in the third quarter, which was offset by lower volumes.
Management guided 2022 net sales to increase by 2% to 4% and for adjusted earnings-per-share to come in at the bottom end of its range of $5.60 to $6.00.
Growth Prospects
Kimberly-Clark has committed to elevating its core brands as one of the three pillars of growth in the coming years. It will do this by launching different product innovations via extensions of existing lines and entirely new products. The company will also continue to manage its revenue via pricing and mix as well as promotional strategies.
Finally, it will use its significant marketing expertise to go after under-penetrated categories to drive market share gains and, ultimately, higher revenue and profit.
The second growth pillar is accelerating growth in its developing and emerging (D&E) markets, which comprise a significant portion of the company’s sales. The company will focus on its personal care and professional segments in particular, with its most significant opportunities coming from places where it has low category penetration and frequency of usage.
Source: Investor Presentation
The company’s focus for D&E development is Latin America and China in particular, with smaller markets also seeing a meaningful push. Kimberly-Clark plans to use its significant supply chain and marketing experience to pursue growth in areas where it under-performs today, which should help drive some incremental growth.
Kimberly-Clark also continues to pursue cost savings, which add up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Therefore, the company is attacking earnings-per-share growth from all angles: revenue growth, margin expansion, and share repurchases.
Overall, we expect 5% annual EPS growth over the next five years.
Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance
Kimberly-Clark’s most important competitive advantages are its brands and global scale. The company enjoys a leadership position across its brand portfolio and, indeed, across the world.
It retains its competitive advantages through marketing and innovation. Kimberly-Clark spends over $1 billion annually on advertising, research, and development. This allows the company to stay ahead of the competition. Given its commitment to its growth pillars, we expect this will only increase over time.
In addition, Kimberly-Clark’s global reach provides the company with the efficiency to keep costs low. The FORCE program is an example of its ability to manage costs, even as revenue grows, and has seen years of success in reducing operating costs.
Kimberly-Clark remains highly profitable, even during recessions. For example, it performed well through the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Its earnings-per-share through the Great Recession are shown below:
- 2007 earnings-per-share of $4.25
- 2008 earnings-per-share of $4.06 (4.5% decline)
- 2009 earnings-per-share of $4.52 (11% increase)
- 2010 earnings-per-share of $4.45 (1.5% decline)
As you can see, while Kimberly-Clark did see earnings decline in 2008 and 2010, it also registered a double-digit growth rate in 2009. The reason for its strong performance over the course of the recession is that the company sells products that consumers need regardless of economic conditions.
Consumers will always need personal care products, regardless of the condition of the economy. This gives Kimberly-Clark a certain level of product demand each year, even during recessions.
Valuation & Expected Returns
Based on adjusted earnings-per-share of $5.60 at the bottom of 2022 guidance, Kimberly-Clark trades for a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.1.
Excluding outlier years, Kimberly-Clark has traded at an average price-to-earnings ratio of ~18 over the last decade. This is also our estimate of fair value for the stock. Therefore, shares appear overvalued right now.
If the stock valuation shrinks from 22 to 18 over the next five years, it will reduce annual returns by 5.7% per year.
In addition, future returns will be generated from earnings growth and dividends. Given the company’s strong brands and growth catalysts, average annual earnings growth of 5% is a reasonable expectation. The stock also has a 3.4% dividend yield. In total, we see annual returns of 2.8% over the next five years.
Despite the strong yield, 50-year history of dividend increases, and moderate growth expectations, the stock is not a buy for new investment right now due to the high valuation.
Final Thoughts
Kimberly-Clark is a high-quality company with a diverse portfolio of strong brands. It has positive growth prospects moving forward, and it is an extremely reliable dividend stock. Emerging markets, cost reductions, and share repurchases will highlight future earnings growth.
Kimberly-Clark has increased its dividend for 50 years in a row and currently has a dividend yield of 3.4%. It, therefore, meets our definition of a blue-chip stock, and it should continue to deliver steady dividend increases each year.
If you are interested in finding more high-quality dividend growth stocks suitable for long-term investment, the following Sure Dividend databases will be useful:
- The Dividend Achievers List: a group of stocks with 10+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The Monthly Dividend Stocks List: contains stocks that pay dividends each month, for 12 payments per year.
- The High Dividend Stocks List: high dividend stocks are suited for investors that need income now (as opposed to growth later) by listing stocks with 5%+ dividend yields.
The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: