Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,400,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,046 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.48% of Kontoor Brands worth $399,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KTB. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Kontoor Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 175,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,692,000 after purchasing an additional 17,541 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 28.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 289,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,712,000 after buying an additional 63,616 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Kontoor Brands by 214.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 26,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 18,026 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 8.0% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 27,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of KTB opened at $65.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.14. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $37.10 and a one year high of $74.90.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $631.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.91 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 71.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is currently 50.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KTB shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kontoor Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 29,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $2,089,242.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,756,805.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 29,212 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.52, for a total transaction of $2,089,242.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,756,805.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Susan Denise Sumner sold 4,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.36, for a total value of $341,032.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,824.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.