Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,090,000 shares, a drop of 31.1% from the September 30th total of 45,130,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kenvue

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in Kenvue by 11.7% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 12,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in Kenvue during the 3rd quarter worth about $214,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Kenvue by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 52,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 17,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Kenvue by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,506,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,842,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kenvue Trading Down 1.4 %

KVUE traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,395,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,116,203. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.41 and its 200-day moving average is $20.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.40. Kenvue has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $23.55.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 billion. Kenvue had a return on equity of 21.80% and a net margin of 7.23%. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kenvue will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 141.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kenvue from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Kenvue from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Kenvue from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Kenvue from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kenvue currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.64.

About Kenvue

Kenvue Inc operates as a consumer health company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Self Care, Skin Health and Beauty, and Essential Health. The Self Care segment offers cough, cold and allergy, pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, eye care, and other products under the Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Nicorette, Zarbee's, ORSLTM, Rhinocort, Calpol, and Zyrtec brands.