Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 77,021 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 118% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,354 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KSS shares. Guggenheim cut shares of Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Baird R W cut Kohl’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Gordon Haskett lowered Kohl’s from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Kohl’s from $18.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Kohl’s from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.10.

Kohl’s Stock Down 3.0 %

KSS stock opened at $9.12 on Wednesday. Kohl’s has a 52 week low of $7.96 and a 52 week high of $29.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.92.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Kohl’s had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kohl’s will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.48%. Kohl’s’s payout ratio is 51.02%.

Insider Activity at Kohl’s

In related news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total transaction of $53,769.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 133,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,869,928.55. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kohl’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Kohl’s by 151.8% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 66,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after buying an additional 40,238 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 253,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,554,000 after purchasing an additional 91,590 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 943,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,246,000 after purchasing an additional 573,579 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its position in Kohl’s by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kohl’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,771,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,873,000 after purchasing an additional 55,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Company Profile

Kohl’s Corporation operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States. It offers branded apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home products through its stores and website. The company provides its products primarily under the brand names of Croft & Barrow, Jumping Beans, SO, Sonoma Goods for Life, and Tek Gear, as well as Food Network, LC Lauren Conrad, Nine West, and Simply Vera Vera Wang.