MML Investors Services LLC Sells 355 Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

MML Investors Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 242.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares in the company, valued at $27,748,177.60. This represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total value of $729,537.69. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,227.09. This represents a 33.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of KTB opened at $86.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.13. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.95 and a 12 month high of $94.82. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $663.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Kontoor Brands’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.85%.

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.