Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KTB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Kontoor Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KTB. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 34,834 shares of the company's stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,291 shares of the company's stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 54,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,292,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,013,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

NYSE KTB traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.56. The stock had a trading volume of 366,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 477,499. Kontoor Brands has a 52-week low of $39.90 and a 52-week high of $84.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.27 and a 200 day moving average of $71.01.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $607.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $592.97 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 72.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kontoor Brands will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Kontoor Brands's payout ratio is presently 52.66%.

About Kontoor Brands

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.