Kimberly-Clark Stock Brushes Off Bullish Coverage

The shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) are down 0.3% at $153.52 at last check, brushing off a brand-new bull note after Berenberg initiated coverage with a "buy" rating and $181 price target. With help from its 10-day moving average, KMB has been climbing on the charts since late September, though is now struggling to break into its Aug. 12 record high of $160.16. 

Even with today's bullish coverage, there is plenty of room for more bullish analyst adjustments, with four of the seven analysts in coverage at a "hold" or worse rating. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $161.85 is just a 5.7% premium to current levels. 

In the past 10 days, 1.69 calls have been bought for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than 79% of readings from the past year, meaning options traders are picking up calls at a faster-than-usual rate. 

However, some of this call volume could be shorts hedging against potential upside for KMB. Short interest has risen 40.8% during the last two reporting periods, and the 7.03 million shares sold short would take nearly five days to cover at the stock's average pace of trading. 

Also worth noting, the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 25% stands higher than just 14% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment. This makes it a good time to weigh in on Kimberly-Clark stock options.