NYSE: KVUE — $17.21 ▼ 0.12 (-0.69%)
NYSE: KMB — $102.80 ▼ 0.35 (-0.34%)
As of Dec 15, 2025 · 4:10 PM ET

FUNstock Index:  6.9 / 10 🎯
Value intrigue, insider conviction, merger drama — with a side of Tylenol.

🧠 The Setup: A Very Large Insider Bet

Sometimes insider buying is symbolic.
Sometimes it’s “I bought a few shares.”
And sometimes it’s Jeff Smith dropping ~$111 million like he just found loose change in the couch.

On December 11, 2025, Jeffrey C. Smith, Director at Kenvue (KVUE) and CEO/CIO of Starboard Value, purchased 6.38 million shares at roughly $17.40, boosting his stake by 30%.

📌 Translation: this is not a vibes trade.

Smith’s résumé reads like a Value Investing Hall of Fame ballot — Papa John’s, Advance Auto Parts, Darden Restaurants, Phoenix Technologies. When he buys, markets tend to listen… even if they don’t immediately applaud.

And yes, there’s a strong chance he knows a thing or two about value investing.

🏛️ Why Kenvue (and Why Now)?

Kenvue is the consumer-health spinoff of Johnson & Johnson, housing brands you probably own, use, or swear by:

• Self Care: Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, Nicorette

• Skin & Beauty: Neutrogena, Aveeno, OGX

• Essential Health: Listerine, Band-Aid, Johnson’s Baby

It’s boring in the best possible way. The kind of boring that throws off cash, survives recessions, and ages gracefully.

But lately, the stock hasn’t exactly sparkled:

• Sales declining low-single digits

• EPS growth… let’s call it “meditative”

• Legal overhangs clouding sentiment

In short: a classic reset candidate.

🏦 Institutions Agree (Almost Universally)

If insiders are whispering, institutions are shouting.

• KVUE: ~99% of shares held by institutions

• KMB: ~85% institutional ownership

Top holders include Vanguard, BlackRock, T. Rowe, State Street, Fidelity — basically the Avengers of asset management.

📊 Nearly 100% of KVUE’s float is institutionally owned. That’s rare air.

For Kimberly-Clark (KMB)’s Institutional Ownership breakdown, 🔍 see here.

🐻 Shorts? What Shorts?

Short interest remains modest:

• KVUE: ~3.4%

• KMB: ~5.8%

In market terms, that’s more light skepticism than outright bearishness. No mob of traders betting on collapse here.

📉 Earnings: Not Pretty, Not Terrible

Kenvue’s Q3 2025 results showed:

• Net sales down 3.5%

• Adjusted EPS steady at $0.28

• Margins holding up thanks to productivity gains

Translation: no growth party, but no disaster either.

Kimberly-Clark, meanwhile, posted:

• Organic sales up ~2.5%

• EPS broadly stable

• Margin pressure from tariffs and price investments

 👉 Want the full picture? Dive into Kimberly-Clark (KMB)’s financials here.

📌 Both companies look… tired. Which is often when restructurings and mergers start to make sense.

💡💡💡 Curious about another deep oil exploration play?
Check our takes on UnitedHealth Group or even Oscar Health.

🔑 The Big One: Kimberly-Clark Buys Kenvue

In November 2025, Kimberly-Clark announced a ~$48.7 billion acquisition of Kenvue, paying:

• $3.50 cash

• + 0.14625 KMB shares per KVUE share

Post-deal ownership:

• 54% KMB shareholders

• 46% former Kenvue shareholders

The goal?
Create a global consumer-health powerhouse capable of competing with P&G, unlocking $2 billion+ in synergies, and squeezing more efficiency from iconic brands.

The market’s reaction?

• KMB stock 📉 (short-term pain)

• KVUE stock 📈 (arbitrage smiles)

Classic merger math.

📐 Valuation Check: Cheap…ish

Kimberly-Clark today trades:

• Forward P/E: ~13.4 (reasonable)

• Price/Sales: ~1.7 (reasonable)

• EV/EBITDA: ~11.5 (fair)

• Price/Book: …let’s not talk about it

Is it screamingly cheap? No.
Is it expensive? Also no.

Add a ~4.9% dividend yield, and suddenly patience starts getting paid.

📉 Down 35% from ATH — That Matters

KMB is still ~35% below its 2020 all-time high. Even a partial retracement could deliver solid upside, especially if synergies materialize and sentiment improves.

⚡ Quick Take / TL;DR

• 🧠 Jeff Smith buys big — that matters

• 🏛️ Institutions dominate ownership

• 🔀 Merger offers upside + real risks

• 📉 Valuation is reasonable, not euphoric

• 💰 Dividend cushions patience

Not thrilling. Not flashy.
But quietly interesting.

❓ FAQ

Is this a short-term trade?
Not really. This is more of a patient value + income setup.

Is the merger guaranteed to work?
No. Integration and litigation risks remain.

Who benefits more — KVUE or KMB holders?
Short-term, KVUE holders. Long-term, depends on execution.

What’s the biggest risk?
Legal overhangs (Tylenol) and synergy disappointment.

👤 About the Author

Frédéric Marsanne is the founder of FUNanc1al, where smart meets fun, and money meets meaning. A longtime entrepreneur, investor, strategist, and storyteller, he blends serious market analysis with insights on health, tech, culture, and the occasional absurdity of modern life. His work mixes curiosity, clarity, and a healthy skepticism of hype — because markets, metrics, and money should be understood… and occasionally laughed at.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal, and remember: even Tylenol comes with a warning label.

Always DYOR, resist FOMO, and never invest money you can’t afford to lose.

This article contains humor, opinions, and educated guesses — not guarantees. Markets are unpredictable. Stocks go up, down, sideways, and occasionally through walls.

We laugh, we analyze, we meme.
We’re FUNancial advisors — not financial advisors. 😄📉📈

Love at any pace. Laugh at every turn. 😄
Be Happy. 😄😄

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