Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 118,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,890,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 29.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 105,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 23,880 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 250.8% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 6,712 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Kontoor Brands by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Kontoor Brands by 222.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 156,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,026,000 after acquiring an additional 107,855 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on KTB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BTIG Research lifted 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Kontoor Brands from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kontoor Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Kontoor Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Insider Transactions at Kontoor Brands

In other news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 184,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was 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 approximately $21,832,952.40. This represents a 41.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas L. Doerr, Jr. sold 7,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.43, for a total value of $639,073.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,091,006.09. This trade represents a 23.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 196,063 shares of company stock valued at $16,342,364. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Kontoor Brands stock opened at $75.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.08. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $88.96.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.95 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 59.71%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.350 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.26%.

Kontoor Brands Company 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.