Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 249 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,866,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,796,000 after purchasing an additional 117,815 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,426,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,195,000 after purchasing an additional 20,964 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 47,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after buying an additional 12,018 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 214.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 26,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 18,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 197.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 27,145 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

NYSE:KTB opened at $54.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.79. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.10 and a 12-month high of $64.49.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.02). Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 76.30%. The firm had revenue of $669.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $720.70 million. Research analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on KTB. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Edward Jones lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.40.

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.