Investors Buy Large Volume of Kenvue Call Options (NYSE:KVUE)

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 106,657 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 851% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,211 call options.

Kenvue Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of KVUE traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.65. The company had a trading volume of 10,708,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,088,291. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.00, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.58. Kenvue has a 52 week low of $17.67 and a 52 week high of $23.95.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Kenvue had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kenvue will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.09%.

Institutional Trading of Kenvue

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Kenvue by 59.0% in the second quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 154,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 57,375 shares in the last quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Kenvue by 140.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 159,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 93,008 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Kenvue by 20.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 364,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 61,635 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Kenvue by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,537,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,950,000 after buying an additional 198,607 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 16,051.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 9,813,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,600,000 after purchasing an additional 9,752,836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Kenvue from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Kenvue from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.64.

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.