Baird Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group reduced its Kontoor Brands stake by 8.5% in the second quarter, selling 38,401 shares and retaining 412,093 shares valued at approximately $34.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.06% of KTB.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $95. Wells Fargo, UBS and BTIG recently raised their targets, while other firms maintained or moved to neutral ratings.
• Kontoor reported quarterly EPS of $1.06, narrowly beating estimates, although revenue fell 11.2% year over year to $584.29 million. The company declared a $0.53 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.2% yield, while its CEO and an executive vice president sold shares in August.

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 412,093 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,401 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.75% of Kontoor Brands worth $34,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KTB. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 7.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 24,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,510,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KTB. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell 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 Performance

Shares of KTB stock opened at $66.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.29. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.19 and a 52 week high of $88.96. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.87.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.01. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 59.71% and a net margin of 8.21%.The company had revenue of $584.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Kontoor Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Kontoor Brands news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 184,403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.40, for a total transaction of $15,379,210.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 261,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,832,952.40. The trade was a 41.33% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.43, for a total transaction of $639,073.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,091,006.09. The trade was a 23.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kontoor Brands Company Profile

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.

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