Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Kenvue Inc. shares gapped up from a previous close of $16.97 to open at $17.90, with the last trade at $17.67 and a volume of 15.5 million shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Kenvue, with a current average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $23.63; notable downgrades were from Canaccord Genuity and UBS, while Zacks Research issued a "strong sell" rating.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.2075 per share, reflecting a 4.8% yield, although its dividend payout ratio is notably high at 112.16%.

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.97, but opened at $17.90. Kenvue shares last traded at $17.67, with a volume of 15,499,940 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KVUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Kenvue from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kenvue to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Kenvue in a report on Tuesday. 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.63.

Kenvue Trading Up 2.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $33.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $20.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.00.

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

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from Kenvue's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Kenvue's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kenvue

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kenvue by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the last quarter. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Kenvue during the 2nd quarter valued at $377,000. Q3 Asset Management purchased a new position in Kenvue during the 2nd quarter valued at $284,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Kenvue by 30.4% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 283,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,936,000 after purchasing an additional 66,112 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Kenvue by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,334,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,727,000 after purchasing an additional 49,427 shares during the period. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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