Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB - Free Report) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,230,416 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,124 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 2.23% of Kontoor Brands worth $100,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 270,427 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Kontoor Brands by 159.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,043,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,187,000 after buying an additional 201,399 shares in the last quarter. Bwcp LP bought a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,890,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 123.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 220,065 shares of the company's stock worth $14,557,000 after purchasing an additional 121,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Kontoor Brands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. 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 research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KTB traded up $0.47 on Thursday, hitting $90.77. 469,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,350. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $80.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.10. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.12 and a 1-year high of $92.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.19.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $670.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is a positive change from Kontoor Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.85%.

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.