Brokerages Set Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Target Price at $20.23

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.90.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KVUE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kenvue from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday. Edward Jones lowered shares of Kenvue from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kenvue from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Johnson Rice reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th.

Insider Transactions at Kenvue

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Smith acquired 3,200,000 shares of Kenvue stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.37 per share, with a total value of $55,584,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 27,307,632 shares in the company, valued at $474,333,567.84. The trade was a 13.27% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kenvue

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kenvue by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 234,951,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,052,913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,040 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,001,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,021,267,000 after purchasing an additional 604,953 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Kenvue by 22.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,046,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,781,640 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in Kenvue by 233.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 31,265,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,388,000 after purchasing an additional 21,886,537 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kenvue during the 2nd quarter worth $537,418,000. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kenvue Price Performance

Shares of Kenvue stock opened at $17.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.96. Kenvue has a 52 week low of $14.02 and a 52 week high of $25.17.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 9.55%.The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kenvue will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.67%.

Kenvue Company Profile

Kenvue is a consumer health company that was established as a standalone, publicly traded business after separating from Johnson & Johnson. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KVUE, Kenvue focuses on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer health and personal care products across a range of categories including skin and beauty care, baby care, oral care, wound care and over‑the‑counter medicines.

The company owns and markets a portfolio of widely recognized consumer brands, including names familiar to global shoppers across retail and pharmacy channels.