Independent Franchise Partners LLP Raises Stake in Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Key Points

• Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in Kenvue Inc. by 159.3%, holding approximately 9.38 million shares valued at about $224.9 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend raise to $0.2075, providing a 3.8% yield and a payout ratio of 112.16%.
• Recent analyst ratings have lowered Kenvue's price target, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.38.

Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Free Report) by 159.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,379,037 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,761,288 shares during the quarter. Kenvue makes up approximately 1.6% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned approximately 0.49% of Kenvue worth $224,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ICONIQ Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the first quarter valued at $272,000. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 15.4% during the first quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 34,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 4,620 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 10.8% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 24,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,423 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 8.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 8.7% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 78,019 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 6,214 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KVUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $24.50 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kenvue from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kenvue currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of Kenvue stock opened at $21.5950 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a PE ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.43. Kenvue Inc. has a one year low of $19.75 and a one year high of $25.17.

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

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This is a boost from Kenvue's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.16%.

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.

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