Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stake in Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Kenvue Inc. by 770.4%, owning approximately 7.7 million shares valued at $161 million after acquiring an additional 6.8 million shares.
• Kenvue's recent quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share of $0.29, beating estimates, but revenue declined by 4% year-over-year to $3.84 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.2075 per share, reflecting a 4.5% yield and a payout ratio of 112.16%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Free Report) by 770.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,697,023 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,812,675 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.40% of Kenvue worth $161,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KVUE. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. bought a new position in Kenvue in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kenvue in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Kenvue during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in Kenvue by 378.5% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,627 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Kenvue by 120.6% in the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,699 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KVUE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Kenvue from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Kenvue from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Kenvue from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Kenvue from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Kenvue from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.04.

Kenvue Stock Up 1.3%

KVUE stock opened at $18.34 on Friday. Kenvue Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.15 and a twelve month high of $25.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50-day moving average price is $20.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.06.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 9.37%.The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Kenvue has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.000-1.050 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This is a positive change from Kenvue's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.16%.

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.

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