Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) Shares Up 3.5%

Shares of Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) rose 3.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.21 and last traded at $20.07. Approximately 4,003,668 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 5,810,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KSS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Kohl’s from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen cut Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kohl’s in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.67.

Kohl’s Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.72.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 1.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kohl’s Co. will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KSS. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Kohl’s by 6,076.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,834,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,809 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,591,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,127,000 after buying an additional 1,775,024 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kohl’s by 348.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,180,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,162 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kohl’s in the 4th quarter worth $34,583,000. Finally, Vision One Management Partners LP acquired a new stake in Kohl’s during the 4th quarter worth about $28,413,000. 98.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.