Royce & Associates LP Has $10.80 Million Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 132,110 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $10,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 351.7% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Bwcp LP bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,890,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Kontoor Brands by 123.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 220,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,557,000 after purchasing an additional 121,689 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

KTB opened at $90.14 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.41. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.46 and a 1-year high of $92.48. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.05%.

Insider Activity at Kontoor Brands

In related news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,748,177.60. This trade represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Kontoor Brands

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.