National Bank of Canada FI Cuts Stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,061 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,465 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KTB. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,205,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,373,000 after buying an additional 26,759 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 10.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,187,000 after acquiring an additional 201,399 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,270,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,250,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,707,000 after purchasing an additional 60,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,942,000 after purchasing an additional 320,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,227.09. This represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $88.86 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $86.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.52. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.95 and a 52-week high of $94.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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