Kenvue Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KVUE)

Key Points

• Kenvue Inc. saw a significant increase in call options trading, with 71,151 options purchased, marking a 29% rise from the average volume.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.29, exceeding estimates, although its revenue of $3.84 billion fell short of analyst expectations.
• Kenvue increased its quarterly dividend to $0.2075, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend, and now has an annual yield of 4.9%.

Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 71,151 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 29% compared to the average volume of 55,146 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 first quarter valued at about $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kenvue during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Kenvue by 266.8% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,581 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KVUE. Bank of America cut their price target on Kenvue from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Kenvue from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Kenvue from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Kenvue from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kenvue presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.32.

Kenvue Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KVUE traded down $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.92. 16,383,241 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,239,881. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Kenvue has a 1-year low of $16.89 and a 1-year high of $25.17. The company has a market capitalization of $32.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50 day moving average is $20.69 and its 200-day moving average is $21.96.

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

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. 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. Kenvue's payout ratio is 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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