Kohl’s Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 37,471 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average volume of 22,509 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on KSS. StockNews.com cut Kohl’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley cut Kohl’s to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Kohl’s from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Kohl’s in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

Institutional Trading of Kohl’s

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Kohl’s in the second quarter worth about $694,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its stake in Kohl’s by 100.0% in the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,839,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake in Kohl’s by 1,422.5% in the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 239,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,495,000 after buying an additional 223,328 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Kohl’s by 0.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 234,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,395,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its stake in Kohl’s by 83.9% in the second quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 30,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 13,761 shares in the last quarter. 98.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kohl’s Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE KSS traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.72. 6,080,145 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,875,125. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.93. Kohl’s has a 12-month low of $17.68 and a 12-month high of $29.60.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Kohl’s had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Kohl’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kohl’s will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Kohl’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.14%. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.65%.

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.