Short Interest in Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) Drops By 15.7%

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE:KTB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,680,000 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the February 13th total of 3,180,000 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 628,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Kontoor Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kontoor Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 11,337 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,294,000 after purchasing an additional 7,445 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 407.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kontoor Brands by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 17,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on KTB shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Kontoor Brands from $108.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Kontoor Brands Stock Performance

Shares of KTB stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $63.31. 432,601 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,943. Kontoor Brands has a 12-month low of $52.95 and a 12-month high of $96.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.09.

Kontoor Brands (NYSE:KTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.07. Kontoor Brands had a return on equity of 73.99% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $699.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kontoor Brands will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kontoor Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Kontoor Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

About Kontoor Brands

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.