Quest Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 2,368.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,245 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,830 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KTB. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the third quarter worth about $230,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 17,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 132,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,804,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Kontoor Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,002,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 112.0% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 17,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,312 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,227.09. This trade represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,748,177.60. This represents a 26.42 % 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 Up 0.3 %

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock opened at $87.85 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.01. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.82 and a 52-week high of $92.48.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released 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. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The business had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.05%.

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.