Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Co. (NYSE:KSS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 42,614 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 26% compared to the typical daily volume of 33,829 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KSS. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Kohl’s by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,134,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,046,000 after purchasing an additional 433,264 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,646,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,190,000 after purchasing an additional 117,819 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kohl’s by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,292,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,190,000 after buying an additional 36,622 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Kohl’s by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,255,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,667,000 after buying an additional 87,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Kohl’s by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,222,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,198,000 after buying an additional 126,600 shares during the period. 98.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kohl’s Price Performance

Kohl’s stock traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $7.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,494,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,372,951. The stock has a market capitalization of $785.95 million, a P/E ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.65. Kohl’s has a twelve month low of $6.04 and a twelve month high of $28.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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

Kohl’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. Kohl’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on KSS. Citigroup dropped their target price on Kohl’s from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kohl’s from $10.00 to $5.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Kohl’s from $15.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Kohl’s from $18.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Kohl’s from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.71.

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.