National Bank of Canada FI Trims Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,061 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,465 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Kontoor Brands by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 5.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Kontoor Brands by 3.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 25,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of KTB stock opened at $88.86 on Monday. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.95 and a twelve month high of $94.82. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.52. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $670.19 million for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 46.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kontoor Brands news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,227.09. This trade represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 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, Kontoor Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands 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.