Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $1.20 Million in Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Kontoor Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $674,664,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands in the second quarter worth $6,557,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,877,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Trading Up 3.8%

KTB opened at $82.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $82.51 and its 200-day moving average is $74.45. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $88.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.88.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $584.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $586.95 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 59.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.350 EPS. Analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is currently 44.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kontoor Brands news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 184,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.40, for a total value of $15,379,210.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 261,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,832,952.40. This represents a 41.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 7,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.43, for a total value of $639,073.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,091,006.09. This represents a 23.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 196,063 shares of company stock worth $16,342,364 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kontoor Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Kontoor Brands from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised Kontoor Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Kontoor Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Profile

Kontoor Brands, Inc is a global apparel company best known for its Wrangler and Lee denim and lifestyle brands. Established as an independent, publicly traded company in May 2019 following a spin-off from VF Corporation, Kontoor leverages a legacy that dates back to 1889 with the founding of Lee and to 1947 with the introduction of the Wrangler brand. The company focuses on designing, manufacturing and distributing premium, casual and workwear apparel, including jeans, pants, shorts, shirts, jackets and complementary accessories.

Kontoor Brands operates a diversified sales model that combines wholesale partnerships with leading retailers, distribution through e-commerce channels and select direct-to-consumer formats.