Barclays PLC Acquires 77,137 Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 316.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,522 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 77,137 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.18% of Kontoor Brands worth $8,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Kontoor Brands by 156.3% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 7,715 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,205,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,373,000 after purchasing an additional 26,759 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 31.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after buying an additional 11,337 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 35.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Finally, ClearAlpha Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Kontoor Brands during the third quarter worth about $287,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the 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 approximately $1,467,227.09. This represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $87.57 on Wednesday. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.95 and a 52-week high of $94.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.52 dividend. This is an increase from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is presently 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.