Royce & Associates LP Trims Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP has reduced its stake in Kontoor Brands by 36.7%, selling 42,823 shares and now holding approximately 73,857 shares valued at $4.7 million.
• Several analysts have provided recent upgrades on Kontoor Brands, with UBS raising its price target to $92 and Wells Fargo to $90, indicating a generally positive outlook.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.33%, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Free Report) by 36.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,857 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,823 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.13% of Kontoor Brands worth $4,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 385 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 650 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 161.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 729 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KTB has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price objective on Kontoor Brands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.50.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of KTB stock traded down $3.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.32. The stock had a trading volume of 279,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,690. The business's fifty day moving average is $66.58 and its 200-day moving average is $69.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.12. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $96.80.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $622.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.44 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 71.33% and a net margin of 8.82%. Kontoor Brands's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kontoor Brands's payout ratio is presently 50.98%.

Kontoor Brands Company 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.