Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Weak Earnings

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $14.53 and last traded at $14.62, with a volume of 8607233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.34.

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 the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share.

Kohl’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.57%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Kohl’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Gordon Haskett downgraded 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kohl’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 16,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.27, for a total transaction of $315,392.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,799 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,116.73. This trade represents a 10.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KSS. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Kohl’s by 149.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,572,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,671,000 after purchasing an additional 9,925,878 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,804,809 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,694,162 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Kohl’s by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,576,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,859,000 after buying an additional 740,398 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Kohl’s by 518.9% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 855,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,658,000 after acquiring an additional 716,919 shares in the last quarter. 98.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kohl’s Stock Down 3.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.78, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

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.