Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Shares Gap Down to $66.77

Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $66.77, but opened at $64.59. Kontoor Brands shares last traded at $63.90, with a volume of 43,740 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KTB. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kontoor Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.20.

Kontoor Brands Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.40 and its 200 day moving average is $62.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.14.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.26. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 71.45%. The business had revenue of $631.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is 50.63%.

Insider Activity at Kontoor Brands

In related news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 29,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total value of $2,089,242.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,756,805.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 29,212 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $2,089,242.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,756,805.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Susan Denise Sumner sold 4,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.36, for a total transaction of $341,032.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,824.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,426,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,195,000 after buying an additional 20,964 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,602,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,054,000 after purchasing an additional 601,646 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,145,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,496,000 after purchasing an additional 35,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 954,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,915,000 after purchasing an additional 6,754 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 613,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,315,000 after purchasing an additional 22,141 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Company 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.