Short Interest in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) Rises By 21.0%

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 49,270,000 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the April 30th total of 40,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company's shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Kenvue from $22.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Kenvue in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $23.50 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Kenvue from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Kenvue in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.33.

Kenvue Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:KVUE traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $21.65. 16,854,133 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,434,733. Kenvue has a 12 month low of $17.67 and a 12 month high of $25.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $23.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Kenvue had a return on equity of 20.97% and a net margin of 6.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Kenvue will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio is currently 149.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kenvue

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Kenvue by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 245,885,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,249,665,000 after buying an additional 8,211,748 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kenvue by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,144,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,494,882,000 after purchasing an additional 10,600,682 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Kenvue by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 97,661,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,085,070,000 after purchasing an additional 10,682,003 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kenvue by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,068,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $980,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Kenvue by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,719,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $912,059,000 after purchasing an additional 16,269,721 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company's stock.

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.