Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.56.

KSS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total value of $53,769.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 133,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,928.55. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kohl’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 151.8% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 66,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 40,238 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 253,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,554,000 after purchasing an additional 91,590 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 149.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,572,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,671,000 after purchasing an additional 9,925,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 451,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,339,000 after purchasing an additional 59,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KSS opened at $8.02 on Friday. Kohl’s has a twelve month low of $7.96 and a twelve month high of $29.60. 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 capitalization of $892.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 1.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.81.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Kohl’s had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Kohl’s’s revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kohl’s will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors 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 yield of 6.24%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.09%.

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.