Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,448 Shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB – Get Rating) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 304,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,448 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kontoor Brands were worth $12,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 18.6% in the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,892,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710,106 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 0.3% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,088,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,866,000 after purchasing an additional 21,363 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,175,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,543,000 after purchasing an additional 75,490 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,916,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,408,000 after purchasing an additional 58,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Kontoor Brands by 3.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,326,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,848,000 after purchasing an additional 39,777 shares during the last quarter.

Kontoor Brands Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:KTB opened at $40.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.89 and a 200-day moving average of $44.71. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.13. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $30.98 and a one year high of $53.83.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $667.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.91 million. Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 102.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is presently 47.29%.

Insider Transactions at Kontoor Brands

In other news, COO Christopher Waldeck sold 35,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.99, for a total transaction of $1,819,527.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,703,929.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kontoor Brands news, COO Christopher Waldeck sold 35,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.99, for a total value of $1,819,527.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,703,929.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas E. Waldron sold 31,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.93, for a total transaction of $1,622,137.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 101,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,262,949.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KTB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Williams Trading upgraded shares of Kontoor Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $63.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $51.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Kontoor Brands from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.38.

Kontoor Brands Company Profile

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Kontoor Brands, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, marketing, and distribution of a portfolio of brands. It operates through the Wrangler and Lee segment. The company was founded on November 18, 2018 and is headquartered in Greensboro, NC.