Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $94.69 and last traded at $94.29, with a volume of 141069 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on 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 increased their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target 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 increased their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

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 company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.19.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $670.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $663.45 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Kontoor Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 $27,748,177.60. The trade was a 26.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 9,039 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.71, for a total transaction of $729,537.69. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,179 shares in the company, valued at $1,467,227.09. The trade was a 33.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 73.2% in the third 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 period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 351.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 347,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,976,000 after purchasing an additional 270,427 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 159.0% during 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. raised 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 acquiring an additional 201,399 shares during the period. Finally, Bwcp LP acquired a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands during the second quarter worth about $11,890,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

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.