Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

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 company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target 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 increased their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Kontoor Brands Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock opened at $91.78 on Friday. 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 $94.41. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.14.

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

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.85%.

Insider Activity at Kontoor Brands

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,467,227.09. The trade was a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total transaction of $9,961,776.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,748,177.60. This trade represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 8,078.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 28,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 28,273 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 53.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 78.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 52,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 23,223 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,002,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 36,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 11,810 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently 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.