Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Holdings in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Kontoor Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,866,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,796,000 after acquiring an additional 117,815 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,426,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,195,000 after buying an additional 20,964 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 47,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after buying an additional 12,018 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 214.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 26,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 18,026 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Kontoor Brands by 197.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 27,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of KTB opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.15 and its 200-day moving average is $55.87. Kontoor Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.10 and a 12 month high of $64.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.02). Kontoor Brands had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 76.30%. The firm had revenue of $669.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $720.70 million. Equities analysts expect that Kontoor Brands, Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Kontoor Brands’s payout ratio is presently 49.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on KTB. Edward Jones lowered shares of Kontoor Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $56.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kontoor Brands from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kontoor Brands from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.40.

Kontoor Brands Company Profile

Kontoor Brands, Inc, a lifestyle apparel company, designs, produces, procures, markets, distributes, and licenses denim, apparel, footwear, and accessories, primarily under the Wrangler and Lee brands. The company operates through two segments: Wrangler and Lee. It licenses and sells apparel under the Rock & Republic brand name.