Is Kenneth Cole on the way out as CEO? Is the company on the way in?

As its shares sag, Kenneth Cole (NYSE: KCP) is finding itself the target of much media coverage -- Everyone has an idea for how to right the ship!

Fortune thinks it's time for the CEO leave the company he built: "Now there are signs that Cole, the company's chairman and chief executive as well as a notorious micro-manager, may finally be ready to step aside and relinquish day-to-day control to a more seasoned executive, though he would remain in an oversight role. A search is currently underway for such a person, and at least one major department store executive has been contacted about the job, Fortune has learned."

Barron's is optimistic: " ... Cole's shiny black leather jackets and funky, square-toed shoes remain must-have items for urbane 30-somethings, and the company is launching initiatives, including a new line of mens' sportswear, that promise to get its financial house in order and more than double the stock over the next three years."

The problem is that Kenneth Cole's sales have been pretty flat, and earnings are also on the decline. And with a price-sales ratio of 0.74, it's not cheaper than Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) is at 0.56, another classic couturier that has watched its share price tank.

One way to try to determine if a stock is really cheap is to ask whether it's a buyout target at the current price: I doubt that Kenneth Cole is. An investment in Kenneth Cole looks like a bet that the company will be able to turn itself around in the most fickle industry on the planet. That sounds more like gambling than investing.