118,667 Shares in Kontoor Brands, Inc. $KTB Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 118,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,890,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.21% of Kontoor Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kontoor Brands in the second quarter valued at $674,664,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,019,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,443,000 after acquiring an additional 413,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,741,000 after purchasing an additional 13,725 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,283,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,415,000 after purchasing an additional 104,296 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,268,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,132,000 after purchasing an additional 6,477 shares during the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kontoor Brands Stock Down 2.1%

KTB stock opened at $75.35 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.08. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.88. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.19 and a 12-month 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.

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

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is presently 44.26%.

Insider Activity at Kontoor Brands

In other Kontoor Brands news, CEO Scott H. Baxter sold 184,403 shares of Kontoor Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 261,786 shares in the company, valued at $21,832,952.40. The trade was a 41.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer H. Broyles sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.02, for a total transaction of $324,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,261,946.22. This represents a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 196,063 shares of company stock valued at $16,342,364. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

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.