Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Shares Down 5% on Analyst Downgrade

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) fell 5% on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $93.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Kontoor Brands traded as low as $72.00 and last traded at $70.85. 162,212 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 595,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.58.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kontoor Brands from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Kontoor Brands from $112.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mendel Money Management boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 4,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 385 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.15. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.07. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $699.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Kontoor Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.