Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.40.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KTB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Edward Jones cut shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 402.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,001,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,965,000 after buying an additional 802,166 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kontoor Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,837,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 55.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,353,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,416,000 after purchasing an additional 482,274 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,205,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,211,000 after purchasing an additional 479,542 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 120.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 518,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,100,000 after purchasing an additional 283,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.87. Kontoor Brands has a fifty-two week low of $37.10 and a fifty-two week high of $64.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.02). Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 76.30% and a net margin of 8.86%. The company had revenue of $669.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $720.70 million. Analysts expect that Kontoor Brands will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.26%.

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.