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

Kohl's Co. (NYSE:KSS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 54,430,000 shares, an increase 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 daily trading volume, of 9,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KSS. Gordon Haskett downgraded Kohl's from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Kohl's from $18.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kohl's from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Kohl's in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Kohl's from $15.00 to $8.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.10.

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Kohl's Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of KSS traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.31. The company had a trading volume of 14,331,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,567,572. Kohl's has a 1 year low of $7.96 and a 1 year high of $29.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $924.50 million, a P/E ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $11.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.39.

Kohl's (NYSE:KSS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.25 billion. Kohl's had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The firm's revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kohl's will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Kohl's Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. Kohl's's payout ratio is currently 51.02%.

Insider Activity

In other Kohl's news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 133,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,869,928.55. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl's

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kohl's by 149.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,572,086 shares of the company's stock worth $349,671,000 after buying an additional 9,925,878 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Kohl's in the fourth quarter valued at $19,874,000. Gate City Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kohl's in the fourth quarter valued at $12,773,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kohl's by 10.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,576,274 shares of the company's stock worth $159,859,000 after purchasing an additional 740,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kohl's during the fourth quarter worth about $8,778,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.04% of the company's stock.

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.