Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) Stock Price Up 8.6% – Time to Buy?

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)’s share price rose 8.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.35 and last traded at $15.32. Approximately 15,716,773 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 20,706,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KVUE has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Kenvue from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Kenvue from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $22.50 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Kenvue from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Kenvue from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.18.

Kenvue Stock Up 8.4%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.54 and a 200 day moving average of $21.04. The firm has a market cap of $29.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Kenvue has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.050 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This is an increase from Kenvue’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. Kenvue’s payout ratio is 112.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kenvue

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kenvue by 13.5% during the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185 shares during the period. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Kenvue by 0.8% in the third quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 117,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Kenvue by 17.5% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 155,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,518,000 after acquiring an additional 23,105 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kenvue by 81.9% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 11,426 shares during the period. Finally, Kempner Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Kenvue in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,162,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.