Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) Short Interest Up 15.9% in February

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of 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. Approximately 50.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 9,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total transaction of $53,769.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 133,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,928.55. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kohl’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KSS. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kohl’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Kohl’s by 183.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kohl’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Kohl’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kohl’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 98.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim cut Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Kohl’s from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kohl’s from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Baird R W cut Kohl’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Kohl’s from $18.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kohl’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.10.

Kohl’s Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of KSS stock traded down $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $8.62. 4,189,877 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,487,436. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.55. The company has a market capitalization of $959.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.92. Kohl’s has a twelve month low of $7.96 and a twelve month high of $29.60.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kohl’s will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. Kohl’s’s payout ratio is currently 51.02%.

About Kohl’s

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.