We recently compiled a list of the Retirement Stock Portfolio: 7 Safe Dividend Stocks To Invest In. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) stands against the other dividend stocks.

As investors near retirement, achieving financial stability becomes a top priority. Among the various investment choices, steady dividend payments hold particular appeal for their reliability and security. Dividends, which are a share of a company’s profits distributed to shareholders, offer a dependable source of income.

Research shows a growing trend of Americans retiring earlier than expected, often due to circumstances beyond their control. According to a study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and the Transamerica Institute, 58% of workers retire earlier than planned. The most frequently cited reasons for early retirement include health-related issues, which account for 46%, followed by employment challenges at 43%, and family obligations at 20%. Interestingly, only 21% cited financial stability as the reason for early retirement. The median retirement age is now 62, falling three years short of the traditional retirement age of 65.

Also read: Retirement Stock Portfolio: 10 Consumer Stocks To Buy

Dividend stocks are becoming an increasingly important component of a well-diversified retirement portfolio for many investors. Carefully selected dividend-paying stocks can provide stability during market downturns and enhance returns during rallies by generating quarterly income that offsets losses and boosts gains. In addition, they can serve as a safeguard against inflation, which has become a growing concern due to rising food and energy costs. Some top-performing companies have consistently increased their dividend payouts year after year for decades. David Giroux, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price who manages the firm’s capital-appreciation strategy, spoke about dividend stocks in one of his interviews with Barron’s. Here are some comments from the analyst:

“To have a retirement portfolio that has a significant component of stocks with attractive dividends makes a tremendous amount of sense. If the average company in the market can grow its earnings at 7% to 8% a year, your dividends should be growing at a similar rate.”

Analysts emphasize that while income and growth are essential for savers to sustain a potentially lengthy retirement, this strategy has its limitations and may not suit everyone. They recommend a portfolio diversified across various sectors and companies with substantial cash reserves to support stock buybacks. Dave King, a senior portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, highlighted in an interview with Barron’s the importance of simple diversification. He suggested holding at least eight stocks from different sectors, noting that diversification doesn’t need to be excessive but should include more than a few stocks—ideally more than five, with one representing each broad sector. According to King, when selecting stocks for such a portfolio, it’s important to avoid placing too much weight on Wall Street research. Instead, the focus should be on fundamental, historically proven factors like a company’s credit rating or the reputation of its management, which can provide valuable insight into the reliability of its dividend payments.

Dividend growth stocks are highly sought after for a retirement stock portfolio. Data from S&P Dow Jones Indices highlighted their appeal, showing that the Dividend Aristocrats Index delivered a total return of 12.08% from 1990 to 2019. This outpaced the broader market, which had a return of 9.95% over the same period, making these stocks attractive not only to retirees but to investors of all ages. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best dividend stocks for a retirement stock portfolio.

Our Methodology:

For this list, we used a screener to select dividend stocks that have shown at least 10 years of dividend growth and are spread across various industries, making them suitable for a retirement stock portfolio. From the initial selection, we chose seven stocks, each from a different industry, all with yields of at least 2%. Next, we arranged them in ascending order of the number of hedge funds having stakes in them, according to Insider Monkey’s database of Q3 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) is an American multinational consumer goods and personal company. In Q3 2024, the company reported revenue of $4.95 billion, a 4% decline compared to the same period last year. Through its Powering Care strategy, the company is accelerating its innovation efforts and reducing costs to deliver better consumer solutions across all price points. It is also simplifying its operations to enhance agility and market responsiveness. Kimberly-Clark remains on course to achieve solid growth in operating profit, margins, and EPS for 2024 while continuing to invest in maintaining business momentum into 2025.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) maintained strong cash generation this year. For the first nine months of 2024, the company reported operating cash flow of $2.4 billion, an increase from $2.3 billion in the same period last year. During this time, it returned $2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.

On November 13, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) declared a quarterly dividend of $1.22 per share, which fell in line with its previous dividend. The company is a Dividend King, with 52 consecutive years of dividend growth under its belt. As of December 17, the stock offers a dividend yield of 3.72%.

Of the 900 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of Q3 2024, 45 hedge funds held stakes in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB), up from 43 in the previous quarter. These stakes are collectively valued at over $1 billion.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.