KSS Investment Analysis Report & Stock Research, Kohl's Corp.

Kohl's Corporation (KSS)

KSS Stock Report

2-Year Price History

View Larger KSS Chart
NYSE:KSS
$54.99
(3/17 4:00PM)
-0.1%
Open$55.17 Mkt Cap$16.9 Billion
High$55.51 52Wk High$60.89
Low$54.8 52Wk Low$40.64
Volume3.8 Million Avg Vol 10D3.7 Million

Ockham's Rating/Recommendation Summary

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KSS Revenue

For a long time, value investors have used the current share price relative to sales per share levels as an important valuation tool. We utilize a historical weighted average methodology that treats recent years more importantly in the calculation. When looking at KSS through this framework, we can see that our weighted average historical high and low Price to Sales per share ratios over the last 10 years are 1.75x and 1.04x respectively.

Utilizing this range we can see that KSS’s current Price to Sales per share ratio of 0.98x is significantly below its average levels historically. In fact, with a current price of $53.67, KSS is a full 30% below its average Price to Sales ratio at comparable sales levels. This is a rare occurrence and, when taken in context of the other areas of our analysis, can be a strong positive for our outlook for KSS.

KSS Cash Earnings

As a value investment framework, Ockham Research is similar to a private equity firm in terms of our valuation methods. We are always on the lookout for value in the form of sales and cash numbers. In the case of KSS, Ockham views their current Cash Earnings as significantly below their historical average multiples of Cash Earnings, as calculated by our proprietary analysis. It is incredibly important to understand that for KSS, the current level of Cash Earnings compared to its historical levels helps identify where KSS is in relation to what the investing community was willing to pay for this level of Cash Earnings in the past. With a historical high Cash Earnings per share ratio of 19.84 and a historical low Cash Earnings per share ratio of 11.76, an investor can relate where value becomes optimal.

So what does "significantly below" mean when we talk about Price to Cash Earnings numbers for KSS? From the Ockham perspective, we are looking specifically at KSS to see if the market is recognizing the huge disparity between KSS's past stock price to Cash Earnings ratio to today's levels. At a difference of 30% below the average historical Price to Cash Earnings ratio, our view would be quite positive at this point. However, as with all metrics, we need to also take other factors into account when looking at KSS. While we view better Cash Earnings metrics as very important, if the market is slow to identify this value, or if Cash Earnings were to fall from these levels, we would become more neutral in our stance.

KSS Dividends

A strong dividend payment history is looked upon as a favorable characteristic on a company’s future and potentially can receive a positive Ockham rating. That being said, we don't require dividend payments for company's whose management has elected to forgo them entirely. As of the time of this report, our data provider does not have historical data for KSS. Therefore, we are not utilizing the dividends portion in our study. So, we do not know whether KSS currently pays a dividend at present or not, we have an "expected dividend" payment listed in key fundamentals but cannot varify it.

Peer Comparison

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Kohl's Corp. Industry Grouping

(3/17/2010)
Company Ticker Market Cap (Ml) Latest
Price
Price/Cash Earnings Price/Sales 5-Yr. Rev.
Growth Rate
5-Yr.
Avg. ROE.
Current 10-Yr. Range* Current 10-Yr. Range*
Peer Company Averages (not including KSS) 10.47 3.82 » 18.44 0.56 0.24 » 0.86 9.60% 22.04%
*10 year range does not include current year values
The TJX Companies, Inc. TJX $18.1 Billion $43.10 11.18 5.51 » 15.99 0.87 0.39 » 1.05 7.35% 37.28%
Kohl's Corp. KSS $16.9 Billion $54.99 11.16 5.19 » 36.47 0.98 0.45 » 3.23 9.77% 15.90%
Best Buy Company, Inc. BBY $16.8 Billion $40.11 8.31 3.80 » 30.10 0.35 0.15 » 0.92 12.89% 23.80%
The Gap, Inc. GPS $16.0 Billion $23.15 10.00 4.24 » 18.43 1.11 0.45 » 1.36 -1.73% 20.06%
The Kroger Company KR $14.6 Billion $22.44 8.67 3.58 » 13.13 0.19 0.16 » 0.44 7.16% 18.49%
Sears Holdings Corp. SHLD $12.0 Billion $104.77 14.20 1.99 » 14.57 0.27 0.06 » 0.54 22.33% 10.58%
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12:04P, Mar. 17,2010 KSS $55.16 Kohl's Corp.
Power Lunch

Power Lunch Discusses Higher Prices and Kohl's Corporation

An abnormally high price is obviously a joyous occasion for investors in that stock. See what Power Lunch was talking about for KSS below.

Please have a look at our report for our reasons to upgrade the stock to Undervalued on our report dated Saturday, March 06, 2010. Ranking all stocks in terms of news coverage offers some interesting data. In the case of KSS, it is getting significantly more attention in recent news coverage than we are used to seeing. While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform. Based on our methodology, Kohl's Corporation should hold some appeal to value investors as we view it as Undervalued.

“… KOHL'S stocks are up. They said they're still out looking to buy. Even though coal prices are moving up. That's certainly a big sign for the coal stocks and some of the big ... …”

10:09A, Mar. 12,2010 KSS $53.30 Kohl's Corp.
Squawk On The Street

Squawk On The Street: What is Happening with Kohl's Corporation Now?

Staying informed on the news is invaluable for investors, and RazorWire has captured a recently discussion on KSS from Squawk On The Street.

When looking at our entire coverage universe and ranking stocks by the attention they receive on RazorWire, it is clear that Kohl's Corporation has been talked about more than normal recently. After factoring in the current fundamentals versus their historically normal ranges, we have established a Fairly Valued stance on KSS. The crowd at The Motley Fool does not like KSS and believes that it will Underperform. Due to deterioration in our valuation, we downgraded KSS as of Saturday, February 27, 2010.

“… And then on the defensive side in terms of playing a more cautious stance we also like KOHL'S. We do expect to see, you know, some slowdown in the second half of the year ... …”

1:18P, Mar. 08,2010 KSS $54.51 Kohl's Corp.
Power Lunch

Interested in KSS? See What the Pundits Said on Power Lunch

The latest news from Power Lunch on KSS is available through Ockham's news analytics platform RazorWire.

Kohl's Corporation receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform. Due to deterioration in our valuation, we downgraded KSS as of Saturday, February 27, 2010. Ranking all stocks in terms of news coverage offers some interesting data. In the case of KSS, it is getting significantly more attention in recent news coverage than we are used to seeing.

“… I do believe that there's a heavy focus, even at the department store sector, at KOHL'S, penny's and others. There's a vacuum, an opening above. …”

12:51P, Mar. 04,2010 KSS $53.58 Kohl's Corp.
Power Lunch

Power Lunch Has News on KSS

The latest news on Power Lunch in regards to KSS came through on RazorWire recently.

Kohl's Corporation receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; KSS has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs. While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform. Due to deterioration in our valuation, we downgraded KSS as of Saturday, February 27, 2010.

“… One retailer missed, shares of KOHL'S, attracting a lot of atech. A big block trade, representing 10% of KOHL'S average daily volume change hands early this morning. Dr. J. …”

10:49A, Mar. 04,2010 KSS $53.00 Kohl's Corp.
InBusiness With Margaret Brennan

KSS Gets Mentioned in the Financial Media

Kohl's Corporation is one of the thousands of companies that Ockham has news analytics on, and it was recently discussed on InBusiness With Margaret Brennan.

Kohl's Corporation receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform. We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; KSS has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs. Due to deterioration in our valuation, we downgraded KSS as of Saturday, February 27, 2010.

“… KOHL'S talked about numbers been up in march in the low teens. We will see a lot of excitement. It could add to the exhibits of the economy. > > how much of the results have. …”

4:03P, Mar. 03,2010 KSS $53.10 Kohl's Corp.
Closing Bell

Interested in KSS? See What the Pundits Said on Closing Bell

As always, the latest news on KSS is available to Ockham clients through RazorWire, and it was mentioned recently on Closing Bell.

Kohl's Corporation receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. Due to deterioration in our valuation, we downgraded KSS as of Saturday, February 27, 2010. We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; KSS has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs. While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform.

“… The same-store sales numbers but KOHL'S expected to be in the high single digits. Taking market schaber away from jcpenney but at jcpenney expecting sales to be up maybe 2%, 3%, ... …”

12:34P, Mar. 03,2010 KSS $53.36 Kohl's Corp.
Power Lunch

See More News on KSS from Power Lunch

Kohl's Corporation is one of the thousands of companies that Ockham has news analytics on, and it was recently discussed on Power Lunch.

We have recently (Saturday, February 27, 2010) downgraded this stock due to deteriorating fundamentals. The Ockham valuation currently has a Fairly Valued stance on KSS because it trades within the price range that we would expect given current market conditions and fundamentals. When taking into account the amount of news coverage each stock normally sees as a percentage of the total, Kohl's Corporation has actually sunk a bit in comparison to the others. Interestingly, overall sentiment looks bearish according to the Motley Fool's CAPS survey, as most of their users see Kohl's Corporation underperforming.

“… We're almost half way through the trading day and the headlines at this hour, KOHL'S announcing it is opening nine new stores that will create more than 1500 jobs in five states. …”

12:26P, Feb. 26,2010 KSS $54.19 Kohl's Corp.
Power Lunch

Income Investors: A Discussion of KSS and Dividends on Power Lunch

Dividends are a management decision and can be seen as a signal of strength or weakness depending on the latest news. RazorWire captured a discussion of KSS's dividends recently on Power Lunch.

When taking into account the amount of news coverage each stock normally sees as a percentage of the total, Kohl's Corporation has actually sunk a bit in comparison to the others. Interestingly, overall sentiment looks bearish according to the Motley Fool's CAPS survey, as most of their users see Kohl's Corporation underperforming. At present, Ockham has a valuation stance of Undervalued on KSS, as we could see significant price appreciation based on current fundamentals like cash earnings and revenue.

“… They did give you a dividend increase, I think more dividend increase would serve the shareholder better, limited, macy's, sears, home depot, KOHL'S, saks, they all did ... …”

4:03P, Feb. 25,2010 KSS $54.08 Kohl's Corp.
Closing Bell

More News Than Normal on KSS from Closing Bell

We are observing a lot of attention being paid to KSS in the news, so if you hold the stock you may want to take a look at what is going on.

Based on our methodology, Kohl's Corporation should hold some appeal to value investors as we view it as Undervalued. We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; KSS has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs. While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform.

“… Forget about their pretty good earnings and touch on some we've talked a lot about the KOHL'S and limited today but take gap, lowe's and abercrombie. …”

3:03P, Feb. 25,2010 KSS $54.26 Kohl's Corp.
Closing Bell

Closing Bell: KSS is Among Most Active Stocks in the News Today

We are observing a lot of attention being paid to KSS in the news, so if you hold the stock you may want to take a look at what is going on.

While bearish sentiment on a stock is not always a bad thing, it is something you need to be aware of. The Motley Fool survey of crowd sentiment shows that many investors believe this stock will underperform. Based on our methodology, Kohl's Corporation should hold some appeal to value investors as we view it as Undervalued. We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; KSS has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs.

“… KOHL'S really good numbers and they're gaing despite some tepid guidance so that's going to tell you something. And limited touched a two-year high despite that weather looking ... …”

View All Kohl's Corp. Stock News

Key Fundamentals

KSS - Kohl's Corporation Fundamentals
Price (3/17 4:00PM) $54.99
Volume (3/17 4:00PM) 3.8 Million
Last Close Price $55.03
10 Day Average Volume 3.7 Million
13 Week Price Range $48.40 - $55.84
52 Week Price Range $40.64 - $60.89
LTM Revenue $16.7 Billion
 
Shares Outstanding (01/2009) 306.6 Million
Market Capitalization $16.9 Billion
Shares Held By Institutions 289.2 Million
Institutional Holders 740
% Shares Held By Institutions 94.60%
Earnings Per Share (EPS) $2.89
P/E Ratio 18.80
Book Value Per Share $24.12
 
Gross Margin 37.40%
Annual Dividend 0.00
Dividend Yield 0.00%
Beta 1.00
Fiscal Year Ends January

About Kohl's Corp.

Kohl's Corporation is considered to operate in the Services sector. They specifically operate in the Department Stores business segment contained within the Retail industry.

The Company operates family-oriented department stores that sell moderately-priced apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and children; soft home products such as sheets and pillows; and housewares.