Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,097 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,602 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 73.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,942,000 after purchasing an additional 320,117 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Kontoor Brands by 351.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,976,000 after buying an additional 270,427 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 159.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 335,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,186,000 after acquiring an additional 205,885 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Kontoor Brands by 10.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,187,000 after acquiring an additional 201,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bwcp LP acquired a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,890,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kontoor Brands

In related news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total transaction of $729,537.69. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total transaction of $9,961,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,748,177.60. This trade represents a 26.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

NYSE KTB opened at $87.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.00. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.95 and a 52-week high of $94.82.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented 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 report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.