Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Kontoor Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $136.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

KTB stock opened at $79.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.69. Kontoor Brands has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $88.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.28.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.16. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 59.17% and a net margin of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $685.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $694.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Kontoor Brands will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kontoor Brands

In other Kontoor Brands news, CFO Joseph A. Alkire sold 9,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total value of $719,114.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,401,443.76. This trade represents a 17.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $674,664,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,268,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,477 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 0.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,225,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,131,000 after purchasing an additional 10,540 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Kontoor Brands during the second quarter worth about $45,003,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 34.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 564,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,730,000 after purchasing an additional 143,749 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Company Profile

Kontoor Brands is an apparel company focused on denim and casual clothing. Its portfolio includes Wrangler and Lee, brands known for jeans and other everyday apparel, as well as Rock & Republic. The company sells products such as jeans, shirts, jackets, shorts and related apparel through wholesale partners and direct-to-consumer channels, including its own retail stores and e-commerce operations. Kontoor Brands serves customers in markets around the world. It became an independent public company in 2019 after being spun off from VF Corporation.