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

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 52,133 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 127% compared to the average volume of 22,953 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KSS. StockNews.com lowered Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered Kohl’s to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Kohl’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen lowered Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Kohl’s in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

Kohl’s Price Performance

Kohl’s stock traded down $0.73 on Monday, reaching $18.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,707,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,868,591. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.93. Kohl’s has a twelve month low of $17.68 and a twelve month high of $29.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.17.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 1.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Kohl’s will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.53%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KSS. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Kohl’s by 6,076.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,834,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,809 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kohl’s by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,591,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775,024 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kohl’s by 348.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,180,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,162 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kohl’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,583,000. Finally, Vision One Management Partners LP acquired a new position in Kohl’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,413,000. Institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

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.