Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $93.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $89.00.

KTB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kontoor Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $84.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.78. Kontoor Brands has a 12-month low of $47.33 and a 12-month high of $89.76.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The company had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $663.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.05%.

Insider Transactions at Kontoor Brands

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total transaction of $729,537.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,227.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kontoor Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTB. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Kontoor Brands by 10.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,187,000 after purchasing an additional 201,399 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,270,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 60,926 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,137,000 after buying an additional 7,526 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 351.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,976,000 after buying an additional 270,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.