Morningstar Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB

Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands during the 4th quarter worth $36,185,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Kontoor Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,733,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,019,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,443,000 after acquiring an additional 413,005 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new position in Kontoor Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,653,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 134.3% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 468,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,916,000 after acquiring an additional 268,604 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KTB. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Kontoor Brands in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kontoor Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Kontoor Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Kontoor Brands in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kontoor Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer H. Broyles sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.02, for a total transaction of $324,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,261,946.22. This represents a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $83.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.87. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.55 and a 1 year high of $88.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.35.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.11). Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.30% and a return on equity of 60.17%. The business had revenue of $613.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 45.0% on a year-over-year basis. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.600-6.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.91%.

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.