Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 226 Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,172 shares of the company’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KTB. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,364,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kontoor Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $3,396,000. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 117,815 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,426,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,195,000 after buying an additional 20,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 34.3% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Price Performance

Shares of KTB stock opened at $67.21 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.11. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.10 and a twelve month high of $69.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.68.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $631.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.91 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 71.45% and a net margin of 8.72%. Kontoor Brands’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $65.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kontoor Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.20.

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.