Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 4,108,054 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 6,329,357 shares.The stock last traded at $15.45 and had previously closed at $15.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KSS. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Kohl’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Kohl’s from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.22.

Kohl’s Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.94.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Kohl’s had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Kohl’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Kohl’s Co. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Kohl’s’s payout ratio is 78.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 16,367 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 10.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KSS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Kohl’s by 183.8% during the 3rd 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. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in Kohl’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 117.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Kohl’s by 97.1% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kohl’s in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. 98.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.