Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

KTB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $85.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. Kontoor Brands has a 12-month low of $52.95 and a 12-month high of $94.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.57 and a 200 day moving average of $76.84.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kontoor Brands will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kontoor Brands

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total value of $729,537.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,227.09. The trade was a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total value of $9,961,776.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,748,177.60. The trade was a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 73.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,942,000 after acquiring an additional 320,117 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 351.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,976,000 after purchasing an additional 270,427 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 335,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,186,000 after purchasing an additional 205,885 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,187,000 after purchasing an additional 201,399 shares during the period. Finally, Bwcp LP acquired a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,890,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Company Profile

Kontoor Brands, Inc, a lifestyle apparel company, designs, produces, procures, markets, distributes, and licenses denim, apparel, footwear, and accessories, primarily under the Wrangler and Lee brands. The company operates through two segments: Wrangler and Lee. It licenses and sells apparel under the Rock & Republic brand name.