Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Stock Price Up 7.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Kontoor Brands' stock price rose by 7.6% following an upgrade from Wells Fargo, increasing their price target from $90.00 to $100.00, leading to a closing price of $83.12.
• Multiple brokerages have also issued positive ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.33 for the stock.
• The company reported strong earnings, with $1.21 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.86, and set a FY 2025 guidance of $5.450 EPS.

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 7.6% during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $100.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Kontoor Brands traded as high as $83.51 and last traded at $83.12. Approximately 207,395 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 723,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.24.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on KTB. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $91.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Kontoor Brands in a report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kontoor Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,673 shares of the company's stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Kontoor Brands by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Kontoor Brands by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,230 shares of the company's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Kontoor Brands by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 14,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $969,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.35. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 68.76%. The firm had revenue of $658.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $632.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.450-5.450 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 2.5%. Kontoor Brands's payout ratio is currently 46.43%.

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.

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