Short Interest in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Grows By 28.1%

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 42,410,000 shares, a growth of 28.1% from the November 15th total of 33,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kenvue

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KVUE. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Kenvue in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Kenvue during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kenvue by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted 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. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Kenvue during the third quarter worth about $71,000. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KVUE shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Kenvue from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Kenvue from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Kenvue from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.64.

Kenvue Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of KVUE stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $22.06. 7,785,956 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,599,004. Kenvue has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $24.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.22.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Kenvue had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 21.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kenvue will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Kenvue’s payout ratio is 149.09%.

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.