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

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 37,630,000 shares, an increase of 18.9% from the February 13th total of 31,660,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kenvue

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alerus Financial NA raised its position in shares of Kenvue by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 191,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Kenvue by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Kenvue by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in Kenvue by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 54,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Kenvue by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Kenvue Price Performance

KVUE stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.49. The company had a trading volume of 9,646,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,075,997. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. Kenvue has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $24.46.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 6.66%. Equities research analysts expect that Kenvue will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Kenvue’s payout ratio is currently 154.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KVUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Kenvue from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kenvue from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.75.

Kenvue Company Profile

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.