Shares of Kenvue Inc. plumbed new lows after Wall Street analysts started coverage of the consumer household-brands company and Johnson & Johnson spinoff with halfhearted ratings, saying bullish fundamentals have already been priced in.
The stock KVUE slumped 3% in afternoon trading, putting it on track to close below its first traded price on the New York Stock Exchange on May 4, the day of its debut. But it was still 16% above its initial-public-offering price of $22. UBS analyst Peter Grom was one of the majority. He started Kenvue at neutral, with a stock-price target of $28.
“With much of the low-hanging fruit from a valuation perspective captured following the +20% performance since IPO, we think [Kenvue’s stock] has become more of a “show-me story” and the direction of the stock will depend on estimate revisions from here,” Grom wrote in a note to clients. Meanwhile, analyst Anna Lizzul at BofA Securities was one of the minority. She initiated Kenvue with a buy rating and a $30 price target.