Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) Shares Up 4.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) shot up 4.5% during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $7.00 to $8.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Kohl’s traded as high as $8.73 and last traded at $8.82. 385,582 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average session volume of 8,685,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.44.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on KSS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Kohl’s from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Kohl’s from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Kohl’s from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Kohl’s from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Kohl’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Kohl’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kohl’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kohl’s by 161.8% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Kohl’s by 49.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Kohl’s in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Stock Down 2.0%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.71. 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 company has a market cap of $920.65 million, a PE ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.61.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 1.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kohl’s Co. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.