Verity & Verity LLC Acquires 19,697 Shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 112.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,188 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,697 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Kenvue in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Kenvue by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Kenvue by 300.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in shares of Kenvue by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kenvue Stock Performance

KVUE stock opened at $21.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.42 and a 200-day moving average of $21.66. Kenvue Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.67 and a 12-month high of $24.46.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Kenvue had a return on equity of 21.43% and a net margin of 6.88%. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 12th. Kenvue’s payout ratio is 149.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on KVUE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Kenvue in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kenvue from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kenvue from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.08.

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.