Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) Short Interest Update

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 54,430,000 shares, a growth of 15.9% from the February 13th total of 46,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 50.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KSS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total value of $53,769.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 133,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,928.55. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Kohl’s by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Kohl’s in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Kohl’s in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new position in Kohl’s in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Kohl’s in the 3rd quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Stock Up 4.3 %

KSS traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,077,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,500,744. The firm has a market capitalization of $966.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Kohl’s has a 1 year low of $7.96 and a 1 year high of $29.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.01 and its 200-day moving average is $15.60.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.23. Kohl’s had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kohl’s will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.02%.

Kohl’s Company Profile

Kohl’s Corporation operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States. It offers branded apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products through its stores and website. The company provides its products primarily under the brand names of Croft & Barrow, Jumping Beans, SO, Sonoma Goods for Life, and Tek Gear, as well as Food Network, LC Lauren Conrad, Nine West, and Simply Vera Vera Wang.