Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Lowered to Hold Rating by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $93.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $89.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock traded down $3.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.65. 1,159,909 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.34. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.20. Kontoor Brands has a 12-month low of $39.90 and a 12-month high of $89.76.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 72.43% and a net margin of 9.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Institutional Trading of Kontoor Brands

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,187,000 after buying an additional 201,399 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,137,000 after purchasing an additional 7,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 351.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,976,000 after purchasing an additional 270,427 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.