UBS maintained a Neutral rating on Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB), and cut the price target to $134.00 (from $143.00), following the company's 1Q earnings report. KMB reported EPS of $1.53, beating the consensus of $1.51. The beat was largely driven by a tax rate headwind, as the company only grew ~2% on an organic basis.

Analyst Stephen Powers commented, "Though KMB's Q1 EPS of $1.53 beat cons. of $1.51 (missing UBSe of $1.55), results on the whole were disappointing, as not only was the cons. beat largely tax rate-driven (~6-7c), but also KMB grew only ~+2% on an organic basis vs. UBSe/cons. of ~+4%. Though KMB maintained FY16 guidance of $5.95-$6.15 in EPS and +3-5% organic growth, the company made it clear that it will likely realize less pricing than previously forecasted in 2016, given competitive conditions in China (driven by JPY-denominated competitors) and a stabilization of FX rate declines (in markets like Brazil & Russia). We note that these macro-driven warnings echo commentary from PEP and KO earlier in the week, which contributed to sector-wide underperformance last week."

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Shares of Kimberly Clark closed at $126.88 yesterday.