Analyst Cove rage Update on Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS)

US stock index futures were higher on Thursday as oil prices steadied and investors awaited the weekly jobless claims data for hints of a strengthening labor market.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60 points, or 0.3%, to 18,513, while those for the S&P 500 index gained 5.55 points, or 0.3%, to 2,178.

The S&P, Dow and Nasdaq all closed at record highs on the same day for the first time since December 31, 1999. The investment firm sold 4,500 shares of KSS which is valued $183,150.Stoneridge Investment Partners boosted its stake in KSS in the latest quarter, The investment management firm added 64,320 additional shares and now holds a total of 101,410 shares of Kohl’s Corporation which is valued at $4,127,387.

Brent crude futures were up 0.18 percent at $44.12 after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast a gradual draw in stocks through the third quarter.

Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 265,000 from the 269,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The departmental store chain is expected to show disappointing performance in revenues as well.

Import prices had been expected to drop by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,963 to 960. Nimble Storage (NMBL) is posting a standout gain.

Kohl’s net income rose 7.7 percent to $140 million, or 77 cents per share, in the quarter, from $130 million, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier.

Airline, biotechnology, and steel stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while commercial real estate stocks bucked the uptrend. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company.

The import-price index for July rose 0.1%, while export prices ticked up 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved higher on the day.

Kohl’s ended the quarter with 1,150 Kohl’s stores, 12 FILA Outlet stores, and three Off/Aisle clearance centers in 49 states, compared with 1,164 Kohl’s stores at the same time previous year. The French CAC 40 Index surged up by 1.2 percent, while the German DAX Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.