Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,940,000 shares, a drop of 6.9% from the September 30th total of 37,540,000 shares. Approximately 32.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kohl’s

In other news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 16,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.27, for a total value of $315,392.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,636,116.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 495.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Kohl’s by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 46,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 5,232 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Kohl’s by 15.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 138,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 18,261 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Kohl’s in the first quarter worth approximately $1,024,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 96,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. 98.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KSS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kohl’s in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Kohl’s from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Kohl’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Kohl’s to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.29.

Kohl’s Stock Performance

Shares of KSS traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.48. The stock had a trading volume of 5,723,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,952,558. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Kohl’s has a 12 month low of $17.89 and a 12 month high of $29.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.61.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.13. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 1.66%. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kohl’s will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.43%.

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.