Lazard Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Free Report) by 47.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,413 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,638 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KTB. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 579,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,524,000 after acquiring an additional 285,897 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 4th quarter worth $17,630,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,402,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,827,000 after purchasing an additional 199,601 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 849,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,574,000 after purchasing an additional 188,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $12,962,000. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kontoor Brands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.00.

Kontoor Brands Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of KTB traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $69.66. The stock had a trading volume of 514,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 551,944. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.00 and a 1 year high of $96.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock's 50 day moving average is $63.25 and its 200 day moving average is $76.55. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.05.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The company had revenue of $622.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Kontoor Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.98%.

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.