Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 22,700 Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Kontoor Brands, buying 22,700 shares worth about $1.6 million. Other institutional investors also adjusted positions, and institutions now own 93.06% of the company.
• Kontoor Brands saw mixed insider/analyst signals: EVP Jennifer H. Broyles sold 4,000 shares, while analysts mostly remain constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $91.20.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.06 per share, missing estimates, but also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share for a 2.5% yield. Shares recently traded near $83.90, close to the stock’s 52-week high of $87.00.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 1st quarter worth $1,918,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,136,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,426,000 after acquiring an additional 215,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kontoor Brands

In related news, EVP Jennifer H. Broyles sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.02, for a total value of $324,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,261,946.22. This represents a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $118.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered Kontoor Brands from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Kontoor Brands in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

KTB stock opened at $83.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.55 and a 1 year high of $87.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.48 and a 200 day moving average of $68.70. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 0.87.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.11). Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 60.17%. The firm had revenue of $613.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 45.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.600-6.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Kontoor Brands's payout ratio is currently 42.91%.

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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