Royce & Associates LP Has $10.80 Million Stock Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,110 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.24% of Kontoor Brands worth $10,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $22,976,000 after acquiring an additional 270,427 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 159.0% during the 2nd 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. boosted its stake in Kontoor Brands by 10.9% in the 2nd 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. Bwcp LP acquired a new position in Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,890,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 121,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kontoor Brands news, 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 value of $9,961,776.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total value of $729,537.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,467,227.09. This represents a 33.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of KTB opened at $90.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $51.46 and a one year high of $92.48. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 45.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.