Willis Investment Counsel Has $10.64 Million Position in Kenvue Inc. $KVUE

Willis Investment Counsel lessened its holdings in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 655,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 312,676 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $10,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KVUE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kenvue by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,246,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,881,844,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101,880 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kenvue by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,001,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,267,000 after purchasing an additional 604,953 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in Kenvue by 233.4% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 31,265,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,388,000 after purchasing an additional 21,886,537 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Kenvue by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,265,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,447,000 after buying an additional 8,436,166 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kenvue in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $537,418,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kenvue

In other Kenvue news, Director Jeffrey C. Smith acquired 3,200,000 shares of Kenvue stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.37 per share, with a total value of $55,584,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,307,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,333,567.84. The trade was a 13.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kenvue Stock Performance

NYSE:KVUE opened at $18.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10 and a beta of 0.59. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $17.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.93.

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

Kenvue Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Kenvue’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Kenvue from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Johnson Rice reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Kenvue in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $15.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Kenvue in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kenvue in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $18.00 target price on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.90.

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.