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

Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

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

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

NYSE:KTB opened at $86.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $88.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.85. Kontoor Brands has a one year low of $52.95 and a one year high of $94.82. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $663.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Kontoor Brands will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is 46.85%.

Insider Activity at Kontoor Brands

In other Kontoor Brands news, 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 transaction of $9,961,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kontoor Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KTB. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Kontoor Brands during the second quarter worth $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Kontoor Brands by 242.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 407.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.