Equity Investment Corp Acquires 268,763 Shares of Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,164,933 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 268,763 shares during the quarter. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $83,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kenvue by 188.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 45,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 29,813 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kenvue by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 12,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Kenvue during the 2nd quarter valued at about $507,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Kenvue by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 392,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,196,000 after acquiring an additional 11,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Kenvue by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Smith bought 3,200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.37 per share, for a total transaction of $55,584,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 27,307,632 shares in the company, valued at $474,333,567.84. This trade represents a 13.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KVUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kenvue from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI set a $18.00 price target on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Kenvue from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kenvue presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.90.

Kenvue Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of KVUE opened at $17.58 on Wednesday. Kenvue Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.02 and a 1-year high of $25.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44 and a beta of 0.59.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Kenvue had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 20.02%. Kenvue’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is 110.67%.

About Kenvue

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.