Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New Investment in Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Key Points

• Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co. initiated a Kenvue position by purchasing 484,700 shares valued at approximately $9.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.64% of the company.
• Kenvue reported quarterly EPS of $0.31, slightly below the $0.32 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 3% year over year to $3.96 billion.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, equating to an annualized yield of about 4.4%; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $19.27.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 484,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,263,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kenvue by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 234,951,484 shares of the company's stock worth $4,052,913,000 after buying an additional 1,604,040 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Kenvue during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,882,279,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Kenvue by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,865,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,050,424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,063,257 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kenvue by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,862,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $856,778,000 after acquiring an additional 371,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 48,146,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $830,527,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343,785 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company's stock.

Kenvue Stock Performance

Shares of KVUE opened at $19.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $36.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.47. The company's fifty day moving average is $19.05 and its 200-day moving average is $18.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Kenvue Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.02 and a 12 month high of $21.78.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. Kenvue had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is an increase from Kenvue's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio is 96.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KVUE has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Kenvue from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kenvue from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Kenvue from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kenvue from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.27.

Kenvue Profile

Kenvue is a consumer health company that was established as a standalone, publicly traded business after separating from Johnson & Johnson. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KVUE, Kenvue focuses on the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer health and personal care products across a range of categories including skin and beauty care, baby care, oral care, wound care and over‑the‑counter medicines.

The company owns and markets a portfolio of widely recognized consumer brands, including names familiar to global shoppers across retail and pharmacy channels.

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