Stock Traders Buy High 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 bought 77,021 call options on the company. This is an increase of 118% compared to the average daily volume of 35,354 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KSS. Guggenheim downgraded Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Baird R W lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Kohl’s from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kohl’s from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $15.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.10.

Insider Activity at Kohl’s

In other news, EVP Feeney Siobhan Mc sold 3,827 shares of Kohl’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.05, for a total transaction of $53,769.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 133,091 shares in the company, valued at $1,869,928.55. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kohl’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Kohl’s by 183.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 11,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 59,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Kohl’s by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Kohl’s by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Kohl’s Stock Up 9.0 %

Kohl’s stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $9.03. The stock had a trading volume of 7,426,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,573,241. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.36. Kohl’s has a 12-month low of $7.96 and a 12-month high of $29.60. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.92.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 1.47%. Kohl’s’s revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kohl’s will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.54%. Kohl’s’s payout ratio is 51.02%.

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.