Short Interest in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Increases By 18.9%

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 37,630,000 shares, an increase of 18.9% from the February 13th total of 31,660,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 13,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alerus Financial NA grew its position in Kenvue by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 191,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Kenvue by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Kenvue by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Kenvue by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 54,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Kenvue by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Kenvue from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Kenvue from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KVUE traded down $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $23.35. 16,840,611 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,114,452. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Kenvue has a 1-year low of $17.67 and a 1-year high of $24.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.41.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 6.66%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Kenvue’s payout ratio is currently 154.72%.

Kenvue Company Profile

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.