Dividend Aristocrats In Focus: Kimberly-Clark

Updated on January 27th, 2026 by Bob Ciura

Investors looking for high-quality dividend growth stocks should take a closer look at the Dividend Aristocrats, a group of 69 companies in the S&P 500 Index with 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases.

With this in mind, we created a list of all the Dividend Aristocrats.

You can download the full spreadsheet of all 69 Dividend Aristocrats, along with several important financial metrics such as dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios, by clicking on the link below:

Disclaimer: Sure Dividend is not affiliated with S&P Global in any way. S&P Global owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The information in this article and downloadable spreadsheet is based on Sure Dividend’s own review, summary, and analysis of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and other sources, and is meant to help individual investors better understand this ETF and the index upon which it is based. None of the information in this article or spreadsheet is official data from S&P Global. Consult S&P Global for official information.

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 53 consecutive years. It is also a member of the even more exclusive Dividend Kings list.

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 over $20 billion in annual revenue.

Kimberly-Clark posted third quarter earnings on October 30th, 2025, and results were better than expected on both the top and bottom lines.

Adjusted earnings-per-share came to $1.82, which was seven cents ahead of estimates. Revenue was flat year-over-year at $4.15 billion, but did best estimates by $50 million.

Sales included negative impacts of about 2.2% from the exit of the private label diaper business in the US. Organic sales were up 2.5%, which was driven by a 2.4% gain in volume, while portfolio mix and price were flat.

Gross margin was 36.8% of revenue on an adjusted basis, off 170 basis points year-over-year. This reflected strong productivity gains that were more than offset by unfavorable pricing net of cost inflation.

Operating profit was $683 million on an adjusted basis, driven by lower marketing and R&D costs, as well as efficiency efforts. Net interest expense was $59 million, up from $49 million a year ago.

On January 27th, Kimberly-Clark raised its dividend by ~2%. Kimberly-Clark has paid a dividend for 92 consecutive years, and this represents the 54th consecutive year that the company has increased its dividend

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. Acquisitions will be a major growth catalyst going forward.

On November 3rd, 2025, Kimberly-Clark agreed to purchase Kenvue (KVUE) in a cash and stock deal valued at $48.7 billion. This will make the new company a leading health and wellness company.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Combined, the two companies’ revenue is projected to reach $32 billion. Strategically, the deal broadens Kimberly-Clark’s product portfolio to include health and wellness products. Kenvue’s major brands include Tylenol, Band-Aid, Listerine, Zyrtec, Neutrogena, and Aveeno.

The next growth pillar is accelerating growth in its developing and emerging (D&E) markets, which comprise a significant portion of the company’s sales.

KMB 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.

Kimberly-Clark also continues to pursue cost savings. Kimberly-Clark’s management team has continuously extended this initiative, aiming for another $1.5 billion of cumulative savings over a three-year period.

We expect 2% annual earnings growth in the years to come, as we expect volumes to remain largely steady over time.

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. 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 ongoing cost reduction program is an example of its ability to effectively manage costs, even as revenue grows.

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 $7.50 for 2025, Kimberly-Clark trades for a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.5.

Excluding outlier years, Kimberly-Clark has traded at an average price-to-earnings ratio of ~19 over the last decade. This is also our estimate of fair value for the stock.

Therefore, shares appear to be undervalued right now. An expanding P/E multiple could boost annual returns by 7.2% per year over the next five years.

Future returns will be generated from earnings growth and dividends. Given the company’s strong brands and growth catalysts, average annual earnings growth of 2% is a reasonable expectation.

The stock also has a 5.0% dividend yield. In total, we see annual returns of 12.9% over the next five years.

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 over 50 years in a row and currently has a dividend yield of 5%.

It is also undervalued, with a high expected rate of return. We rate KMB stock a buy right now.

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 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: