Why Kohl’s Corporation (KSS) Shares Surged Higher

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) shares have surged by 6% in afternoon trading as sentiment surrounding retailers has, at least for the moment, turned bullish. Although there is no fundamental news concerning Kohl’s today, the company’s peer,  L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB), reported March sales data that may have been better than some investor expectations. In particular, L Brands’ net sales for the five months ended April 1 fell 7% year-over-year and its comparable sales fell 10% (with around 2% to 3% due to a later Easter in 2017).

Although many bears have predicted that department stores could be the next victim to e-commerce giant Amazon.com as various technologies such as virtual reality and drone delivery blur the line between online shopping and real shopping, many investors believe the sector has a future and could still deliver solid returns for investors. To bulls, Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) certainly looks interesting given the company’s reasonable forward P/E of 10.34 and dividend yield of 5.47% at current prices.

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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Smart money activity was relatively unchanged for Kohl’s in the fourth quarter. Of the 742 elite funds we track, 27 funds owned $394.11 million of Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and accounted for 4.50% of the float on December 31, versus 29 funds and $409.99 million respectively on September 30. In terms of noteworthy individual moves, George Soros‘ Soros Fund Management intiated a new stake of 600,819 shares in the retailer in the fourth quarter.

The Bottom Line

Traders have bid up Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) today due to improved sentiment/potential short covering. For more reading, check out ‘Top 10 Online Shopping Sites In the US‘.

Disclosure:None

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