Kohl's Shrinks Its Debt Load and Prepares to Reward Shareholders
During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) scrambled to shore up its liquidity by issuing new debt and expanding its credit facility. Yet the retailer weathered the pandemic more easily than management and investors had expected. In fact, thanks to its careful management of expenses and working capital, Kohl's generated about $1 billion of free cash flow in fiscal 2020.
As a result, the department-store chain entered this year with a ton of excess cash. Recently, it used some of that cash to pay down debt.
Nevertheless, Kohl's is still carrying more cash than it needs. On Wednesday, the company significantly increased its share-repurchase authorization, hinting that it will return cash to shareholders faster than previously expected.
Source Fool.com
