Fmr LLC Raises Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Fmr LLC grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 0.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,020,079 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 0.05% of Kontoor Brands worth $246,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Kontoor Brands by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the first quarter valued at $527,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $524,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Kontoor Brands by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,748,177.60. This represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of KTB stock opened at $91.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.19. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.95 and a 1 year high of $94.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.19.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $663.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. 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. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is currently 45.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Kontoor Brands

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.