Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,719,377 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,269,721 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $912,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Kenvue by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 742,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,846,000 after acquiring an additional 21,222 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Kenvue by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 582,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,445,000 after purchasing an additional 109,700 shares during the last quarter. Longbow Finance SA increased its holdings in Kenvue by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 280,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,990,000 after purchasing an additional 13,287 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Kenvue by 143.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 47,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 28,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Kenvue by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 1,253,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,754,000 after buying an additional 17,466 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KVUE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kenvue from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Kenvue from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Kenvue from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of KVUE stock opened at $23.74 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.67 and a 52 week high of $24.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.36 billion, a PE ratio of 44.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.45.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 6.66%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 154.72%.

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.