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 purchased 77,021 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 118% compared to the typical volume of 35,354 call options.

Kohl’s Price Performance

Shares of KSS stock traded up $0.75 on Monday, reaching $9.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,426,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,573,241. Kohl’s has a 1 year low of $7.96 and a 1 year high of $29.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Kohl’s had a return on equity of 6.44% and a net margin of 1.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kohl’s will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kohl’s

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in Kohl’s by 151.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 66,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 40,238 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 253,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,554,000 after buying an additional 91,590 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Kohl’s by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 943,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,246,000 after purchasing an additional 573,579 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kohl’s by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 42,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kohl’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,771,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,873,000 after acquiring an additional 55,540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $15.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Kohl’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Kohl’s from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Kohl’s from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Kohl’s from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.10.

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.