Short Interest in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Grows By 23.8%

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 38,500,000 shares, an increase of 23.8% from the October 15th total of 31,090,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 15,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kenvue

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Kenvue during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Kenvue by 49.7% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue in the second quarter valued at $61,000. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KVUE shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Kenvue in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Kenvue from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kenvue has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.64.

Kenvue Price Performance

Shares of Kenvue stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,880,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,003,244. Kenvue has a one year low of $17.67 and a one year high of $24.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.36.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Kenvue had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Kenvue’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kenvue will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Kenvue’s payout ratio is presently 149.09%.

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.