Clearbridge Investments LLC Reduces Stake in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,377,764 shares of the company’s stock after selling 435,833 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $170,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KVUE. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Kenvue by 12.0% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in Kenvue by 3,620.9% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,615,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,476 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 28,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 6,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Kenvue Stock Performance

NYSE:KVUE opened at $22.79 on Wednesday. Kenvue Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.67 and a 52 week high of $23.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.09. 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 company has a market cap of $43.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.40.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. Kenvue had a return on equity of 21.80% and a net margin of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Kenvue’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Kenvue’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KVUE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Kenvue in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Kenvue from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kenvue from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Kenvue from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kenvue currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.10.

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.