Short Interest in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Drops By 8.6%

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 35,720,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the December 15th total of 39,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Kenvue Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of KVUE opened at $21.11 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.46. Kenvue has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $24.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.71.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Kenvue had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. Kenvue’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is presently 149.09%.

Institutional Trading of Kenvue

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kenvue in the fourth quarter worth about $323,000. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 241,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,296 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in shares of Kenvue by 109.8% during the fourth quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 11,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,104 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Kenvue by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 94,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 24,835 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in Kenvue by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 11,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KVUE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Kenvue from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kenvue from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Kenvue from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.08.

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.