Short Interest in Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) Decreases By 6.9%

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

Kohl’s Stock Performance

KSS traded down $0.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,830,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,938,847. Kohl’s has a one year low of $17.89 and a one year high of $29.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.93.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 1.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kohl’s will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.86%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.43%.

Insider Activity at Kohl’s

In other news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 16,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.27, for a total transaction of $315,392.09. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 136,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,636,116.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Kohl’s by 6,076.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,834,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,809 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 348.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,180,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,118,000 after buying an additional 1,694,162 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Kohl’s by 518.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 855,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,658,000 after buying an additional 716,919 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 26.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,093,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,126,000 after buying an additional 643,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kohl’s by 109.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 546,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,522,000 after acquiring an additional 285,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KSS. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Kohl’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Kohl’s from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Kohl’s from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.29.

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.