Ancora Advisors LLC Buys 41,649 Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors increased its Kontoor Brands stake by 75.4% in the second quarter, adding 41,649 shares for a total of 96,890 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.06% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is favorable, with Kontoor receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $95 average price target; JPMorgan, BTIG Research, and Barclays recently raised their targets.
• Kontoor reported quarterly EPS of $1.06, slightly above estimates, while revenue fell 11.2% year over year to $584.3 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, a 2.9% annualized yield.

Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Free Report) by 75.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,890 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,649 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of Kontoor Brands worth $8,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 335.5% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 405 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 551 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KTB shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kontoor Brands from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Kontoor Brands from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $74.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $82.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $88.96.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.01. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 59.71%. The business had revenue of $584.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.350 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Kontoor Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kontoor Brands news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 184,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.40, for a total value of $15,379,210.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 261,786 shares in the company, valued at $21,832,952.40. This represents a 41.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 7,660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.43, for a total transaction of $639,073.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,091,006.09. This represents a 23.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 196,063 shares of company stock worth $16,342,364 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

About Kontoor Brands

Kontoor Brands, Inc is a global apparel company best known for its Wrangler and Lee denim and lifestyle brands. Established as an independent, publicly traded company in May 2019 following a spin-off from VF Corporation, Kontoor leverages a legacy that dates back to 1889 with the founding of Lee and to 1947 with the introduction of the Wrangler brand. The company focuses on designing, manufacturing and distributing premium, casual and workwear apparel, including jeans, pants, shorts, shirts, jackets and complementary accessories.

Kontoor Brands operates a diversified sales model that combines wholesale partnerships with leading retailers, distribution through e-commerce channels and select direct-to-consumer formats.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source