Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) is a popular apparel and home goods retailer in the United States that has been making headlines recently for its financial achievements. The company’s most recent earnings report, released on May 24th, 2021, surprised analysts with better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13 for the quarter. This was an impressive feat considering that Kohl’s had negative return on equity of 0.47% and a negative net margin of 0.11%. Kohl’s revenues for the quarter were also strong, coming in at $3.57 billion compared to analyst expectations of $3.37 billion, representing a growth rate of 5.93%.
This bullish sentiment had an effect on investors as well since Kwmg LLC boosted its position in shares of Kohl’s by 8.8% in the first quarter according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned over 109 thousand shares of Kohl’s stock, which was worth over $2.5 million at the time of filing – representing a smart investment decision.
The good news continued even outside of the company as CEO Thomas Kingsbury showed confidence in the stock with his heavy investment this March when he purchased nearly $2 million worth of shares at an average cost of around $21 per share for a total transaction value exceeding $2 million – indicative of his faith in Kohl’s ability to deliver value over time.
As we look towards future quarters and analyze what lies ahead, research analysts expect that Kohl’s Co will post EPS figures upwards of 2.4 for this current fiscal year – making it one to watch closely.
All-in-all, there are few stocks out there whose performance during such tumultuous times has been as impressive and reassuring as that exhibited by Kohls’ financials so far – although past performance does not guarantee future results, investors could gain a lot from an independent and objective assessment of Kohl’s fundamentals to gauge their true potential.
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Investment Interest and Uncertainty Surround Kohl’s Financial Strategy
[stock_market_widget type=”chart” template=”basic” color=”#3946CE” assets=”KSS” range=”1mo” interval=”1d” axes=”true” cursor=”true” range_selector=”true” api=”yf”]Kohl’s Co. has been attracting a great deal of investment interest recently, with various institutional investors and hedge funds either adding to or reducing their stakes in the company. One such investor is Eagle Bay Advisors LLC, which acquired a new position in Kohl’s shares worth $26,000 during the second quarter. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC also acquired shares at the same value during the fourth quarter, as did Belpointe Asset Management LLC ($37,000), Fairfield Bush & CO. ($93,000) and Lumature Wealth Partners LLC ($45,000) respectively.
As a result, institutional investors and hedge funds now own 97.94% of the company’s stock. KSS stock opened at $23.07 on Monday; however, Kohl’s 1 year low stands at $17.89 and its 1 year high is $43.72.
Kohl’s interesting news continues with CEO Thomas Kingsbury personally acquiring 92,500 shares in the company at an average cost of $21.82 per share in March this year totaling $2,018,350. Following his acquisition Mr Kingsbury now holds 228,993 shares worth $4,996,627.
However uncertainty circles around Kohl’s financial strategy following its recent declaration of a quarterly dividend that will pay shareholders back $0.50 for each share held issued on June 21st to shareholders of record on Wednesday June 7th leading to questions surrounding whether Kohl’s are financially able to fulfil these payments later down the line should future dividends be offered instead.
The move received mixed reactions from market analysts with Robert W Baird stating they would drop their price target on Kohl’s from $35 to $30 whilst Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective even further still to just $27 due to this financial uncertainty casting shadows over earnings expectations moving forward.
However TD Cowen upgraded their recommendation on the stock from a “market perform” to “outperform” and increased their price target from $23.00 to $30.00. StockNews.com remains neutral with a “hold” rating on Kohl’s.
With such differing opinions being made by leading market analysts regarding the ecommerce giant, one can only wait and see what course of action Kohl’s decides to take next in this already complicated financial climate and if it can appease both its stakeholders and investors alike.
