Lazard Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Kenvue Inc. (NYSE:KVUE) by 52.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 828,778 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,128 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kenvue were worth $17,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kenvue by 80.8% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kenvue during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kenvue in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Kenvue during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Kenvue during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on KVUE. Citigroup cut their price target on Kenvue from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Kenvue in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Kenvue from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. William Blair started coverage on Kenvue in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Kenvue from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.45.

Kenvue Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of KVUE stock opened at $18.70 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Kenvue Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $24.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.53.

Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. Kenvue had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 21.06%. Kenvue’s revenue was down 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kenvue Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kenvue Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is an increase from Kenvue’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. Kenvue’s payout ratio is currently 102.56%.

Kenvue 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.