GSA Capital Partners LLP Reduces Stock Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

GSA Capital Partners LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,189 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,235 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Kontoor Brands by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 3.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of KTB opened at $91.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.28. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.82 and a 1-year high of $92.48. The stock has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm 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 firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kontoor Brands

In other Kontoor Brands news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total transaction of $9,961,776.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KTB shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim increased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock 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 boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands 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.