Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,383 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 57,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,472,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 149.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 4,235 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 1st quarter worth $527,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter worth $524,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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 upped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total value of $9,961,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,748,177.60. This trade represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total transaction of $729,537.69. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,227.09. The trade was a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:KTB opened at $92.05 on Wednesday. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.82 and a 52 week high of $94.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.72. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.19. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The company had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 2.26%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 45.05%.

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.