Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Kohl’s Put Options (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 23,743 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 73% compared to the average volume of 13,721 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kohl’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kohl’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 133.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 56.1% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kohl’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Stock Up 2.8 %

Kohl’s stock opened at $25.40 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.31. Kohl’s has a 1-year low of $17.68 and a 1-year high of $29.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.98.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.39. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 1.81%. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.49) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Kohl’s will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.87%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KSS has been the topic of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Kohl’s from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kohl’s from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Kohl’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kohl’s from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kohl’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kohl’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.20.

About Kohl’s

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.