Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.0769.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Kenvue from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Edward Jones cut Kenvue from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kenvue in a report on Friday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kenvue from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $18.00 price objective on Kenvue in a report on Tuesday, October 28th.

Kenvue Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of KVUE stock opened at $18.73 on Monday. Kenvue has a twelve month low of $14.02 and a twelve month high of $25.17. The stock has a market cap of $35.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.54 and a 200 day moving average of $17.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. Kenvue had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 9.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Smith acquired 3,200,000 shares of Kenvue stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.37 per share, for a total transaction of $55,584,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,307,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,333,567.84. The trade was a 13.27% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kenvue

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KVUE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kenvue in the 4th quarter worth about $756,862,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Kenvue by 233.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 31,265,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,388,000 after acquiring an additional 21,886,537 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP increased its position in shares of Kenvue by 1,023.5% during the fourth quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 12,886,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,289,000 after purchasing an additional 11,739,328 shares in the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC increased its position in shares of Kenvue by 1,116.8% during the fourth quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 10,950,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,905,000 after purchasing an additional 10,050,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Kenvue in the 4th quarter valued at $162,193,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Kenvue Company Profile

Kenvue is a consumer health company that was established as a standalone, publicly traded business after separating from Johnson & Johnson. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KVUE, Kenvue focuses on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer health and personal care products across a range of categories including skin and beauty care, baby care, oral care, wound care and over‑the‑counter medicines.

The company owns and markets a portfolio of widely recognized consumer brands, including names familiar to global shoppers across retail and pharmacy channels.