Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,383 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 5.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 57,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,472,000 after buying an additional 3,201 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 149.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 4,235 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter worth $527,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on KTB. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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, Barclays raised their target price on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kontoor Brands

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,467,227.09. This trade represents a 33.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,916 shares in the company, valued at $27,748,177.60. This trade represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock opened at $92.05 on Wednesday. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $94.41. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.72.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $663.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS 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. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is currently 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.