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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KSS shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kohl’s from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kohl’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Kohl’s from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Kohl’s from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kohl’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl’s

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KSS. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 5,021.7% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Kohl’s by 10.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 19.1% during the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 13.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Kohl’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $860,000. Institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Stock Performance

Shares of KSS traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $25.13. The stock had a trading volume of 3,130,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,418,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Kohl’s has a 12 month low of $17.68 and a 12 month high of $29.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.27.

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

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.18%.

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.