Kohl’s Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 77,021 call options on the company. This is an increase of 118% compared to the average daily volume of 35,354 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Kohl’s from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $15.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total value of $53,769.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 133,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,869,928.55. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kohl’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KSS. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 10.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,576,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,859,000 after buying an additional 740,398 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,134,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,046,000 after acquiring an additional 433,264 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,646,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,190,000 after purchasing an additional 117,819 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kohl’s by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,292,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,190,000 after purchasing an additional 36,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Kohl’s by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,255,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,667,000 after purchasing an additional 87,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Kohl’s stock opened at $9.12 on Wednesday. Kohl’s has a 1 year low of $7.96 and a 1 year high of $29.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.20.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.23. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Kohl’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kohl’s will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

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

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.