D.A. Davidson & CO. Decreases Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 789 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $1,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,942,000 after buying an additional 320,117 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 351.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,976,000 after purchasing an additional 270,427 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 159.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 335,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,186,000 after purchasing an additional 205,885 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 10.9% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,187,000 after purchasing an additional 201,399 shares during the period. Finally, Bwcp LP purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the second quarter valued at $11,890,000. 93.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

Shares of KTB opened at $91.78 on Friday. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.95 and a 52 week high of $94.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.96 and a 200-day moving average of $75.14.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 73.99%. The firm had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kontoor Brands

In other Kontoor Brands news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total value of $729,537.69. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,467,227.09. This trade represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total transaction of $9,961,776.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,748,177.60. This represents a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.