Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 816,428 Shares of Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 62.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,115,410 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 816,428 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $36,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Kenvue by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kenvue during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kenvue during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Kenvue during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Kenvue by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KVUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kenvue to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Kenvue from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kenvue from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Kenvue from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Kenvue from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.58.

Kenvue Trading Up 1.9%

KVUE stock opened at $19.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.92. Kenvue Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.02 and a fifty-two week high of $22.87. The firm has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Kenvue had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Kenvue’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.65%.

Insider Activity at Kenvue

In related news, General Counsel Matthew Orlando sold 38,491 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.66, for a total value of $679,751.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

About Kenvue

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.