Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 661,394 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,974 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $54,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Kontoor Brands in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 242.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KTB. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock opened at $91.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.95 and a 1 year high of $94.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.96 and its 200 day moving average is $75.14.

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

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. This is an increase from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total transaction of $729,537.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,227.09. This represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares in the company, valued at $27,748,177.60. This represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.