Morgan Stanley Maintains EW Rating on KSS

Morgan Stanley is maintaining its EW rating on shares of Kohl's Corp. KSS. “There were clear pluses and minuses to come out of 1Q results,” Morgan Stanley writes. “While we like mgmt's willingness to step up share buybacks and expect the co. to repurchase ~21% of shares outstanding over 3 yrs, we remain concerned sales weakness in qtr. was more than just weather. “Applying a 13x P/E multiple to our new 2011 EPS of $4.49 implies 5% upside to shares.” Kohl's Corp. closed Friday at $55.17.