Eagle Asset Management Inc. Takes $3.45 Million Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 38,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KTB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 661,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,089,000 after purchasing an additional 17,974 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 222.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 8,991 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 73.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,942,000 after buying an additional 320,117 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Kontoor Brands in the third quarter valued at about $4,799,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2,368.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,830 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KTB. UBS Group upped their price target on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Trading Up 2.5 %

Kontoor Brands stock opened at $93.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.55. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.82 and a 52 week high of $94.41. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.05%.

Insider Transactions at Kontoor Brands

In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $27,748,177.60. This represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’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 transaction of $729,537.69. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,227.09. The trade was a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.50% 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.