Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks upgraded Kontoor Brands from "hold" to "strong‑buy", while the analyst consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a $91 average target (2 Strong Buy, 5 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Kontoor beat Q expectations with EPS of $1.73 vs. $1.65 and revenue of $1.02B (up 45.6% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of $6.40–$6.50 EPS, and trades around $77 with a $4.27B market cap and ~19.1x PE.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

KTB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Kontoor Brands in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. They set a "hold" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kontoor Brands in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Kontoor Brands Trading Up 6.9%

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $77.32 on Thursday. Kontoor Brands has a 1-year low of $53.55 and a 1-year high of $87.00. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.02.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.08. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 7.22% and a return on equity of 62.02%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 45.6% on a year-over-year basis. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-6.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kontoor Brands will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 73.0% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 308 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 4.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 12.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 9.9% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.8% in the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

About Kontoor Brands

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.