Willis Investment Counsel Reduces Stock Position in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its stake in shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 888,147 shares of the company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $21,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kenvue in the 4th quarter valued at about $521,348,000. Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in Kenvue in the 4th quarter valued at about $467,864,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Kenvue by 61.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,719,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,059,000 after buying an additional 16,269,721 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 97,661,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,085,070,000 after purchasing an additional 10,682,003 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,885,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,249,665,000 after purchasing an additional 8,211,748 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of KVUE opened at $22.05 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.54. Kenvue Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $25.17. The firm has a market cap of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 6.66%. The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 149.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KVUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $22.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.50 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Kenvue in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.33.

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.