Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $94.69 and last traded at $94.29, with a volume of 141069 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.96 and its 200 day moving average is $75.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.45 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is 45.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Kontoor Brands news, 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 value of $9,961,776.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,748,177.60. The trade was a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total value 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. 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Kontoor Brands by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,205,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,373,000 after purchasing an additional 26,759 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Kontoor Brands by 10.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,187,000 after purchasing an additional 201,399 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,270,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 5.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,250,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,707,000 after purchasing an additional 60,926 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,203,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,409,000 after buying an additional 15,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.