Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KTB. Barclays upped their price target on Kontoor Brands from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $136.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kontoor Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 4.1%

Kontoor Brands stock opened at $79.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Kontoor Brands has a 1-year low of $56.19 and a 1-year high of $88.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 0.85.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.16. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 59.17% and a net margin of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $685.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $694.18 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Kontoor Brands will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph A. Alkire sold 9,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total transaction of $719,114.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,803 shares in the company, valued at $3,401,443.76. The trade was a 17.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $674,664,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,268,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,477 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,225,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,131,000 after purchasing an additional 10,540 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands during the second quarter worth about $45,003,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 34.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 564,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,730,000 after purchasing an additional 143,749 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Company Profile

Kontoor Brands is an apparel company focused on denim and casual clothing. Its portfolio includes Wrangler and Lee, brands known for jeans and other everyday apparel, as well as Rock & Republic. The company sells products such as jeans, shirts, jackets, shorts and related apparel through wholesale partners and direct-to-consumer channels, including its own retail stores and e-commerce operations. Kontoor Brands serves customers in markets around the world. It became an independent public company in 2019 after being spun off from VF Corporation.