Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,260,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the December 15th total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 427,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.6 days. Currently, 6.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kontoor Brands news, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total value of $729,537.69. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 119,160 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.60, for a total transaction of $9,961,776.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,748,177.60. The trade was a 26.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTB. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 757,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,942,000 after purchasing an additional 320,117 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 159.0% in 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 period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bwcp LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,890,000. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on KTB shares. UBS Group boosted their target price 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock traded up $1.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $86.10. 266,469 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 353,665. Kontoor Brands has a fifty-two week low of $52.95 and a fifty-two week high of $94.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.20.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.11. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $663.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kontoor Brands will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.85%.

Kontoor Brands Company 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.