Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

KTB has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $118.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Kontoor Brands from $74.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kontoor Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.00.

Kontoor Brands Stock Up 6.9%

Shares of NYSE KTB opened at $77.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Kontoor Brands has a 12-month low of $53.55 and a 12-month high of $87.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.95.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $975.78 million. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 62.02% and a net margin of 7.22%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Kontoor Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-6.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kontoor Brands will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kontoor Brands

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 31.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 180,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,805,000 after purchasing an additional 43,378 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 89.5% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 32,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,612,000 after purchasing an additional 15,465 shares during the last quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 14.5% during the third quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC now owns 283,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,646,000 after purchasing an additional 35,980 shares during the last quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 50.8% during the third quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 57,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,586,000 after purchasing an additional 19,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 8.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,276,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,819,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

About Kontoor Brands

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.