Investors Buy High Volume of Kohl’s Put Options (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 23,743 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 73% compared to the average daily volume of 13,721 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kohl’s

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Kohl’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Kohl’s by 133.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Kohl’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Kohl’s by 392.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KSS. StockNews.com upgraded Kohl’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kohl’s from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Kohl’s from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kohl’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Kohl’s from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kohl’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.20.

Kohl’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KSS opened at $24.89 on Thursday. Kohl’s has a fifty-two week low of $17.68 and a fifty-two week high of $29.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.98. 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 (NYSE:KSS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.39. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 1.81%. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.49) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kohl’s will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.04%. 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.