Kenvue Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KVUE)

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 31,130 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 65% compared to the average volume of 18,853 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Kenvue from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Kenvue in a report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.33.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of KVUE stock opened at $21.35 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.45. The stock has a market cap of $40.95 billion, a PE ratio of 38.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Kenvue has a 12 month low of $17.67 and a 12 month high of $25.17.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Kenvue had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 20.87%. Kenvue’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 81,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 18,650 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Kenvue by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Kenvue by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 31,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 8,741 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Kenvue by 1,103.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 44,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 40,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 38,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 18,059 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

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.