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

Key Points

• Kohl's Corporation experienced a significant surge in options trading, with 81,625 call options purchased, marking a 93% increase from the typical daily volume.
• The company's stock price fell by 6.2% on Friday, trading at $12.79, with a market capitalization of $1.43 billion.
• Kohl's reported earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.13) for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, but also faced a 4.1% decline in year-over-year revenue.

Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 81,625 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 93% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,346 call options.

Institutional Trading of Kohl's

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in Kohl's during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Kohl's by 161.8% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,887 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Kohl's by 49.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Kohl's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in Kohl's in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.04% of the company's stock.

Kohl's Trading Down 6.2%

NYSE:KSS traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.79. The stock had a trading volume of 14,919,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,827,128. Kohl's has a one year low of $6.04 and a one year high of $22.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.66. The business's 50 day moving average is $8.97 and its 200-day moving average is $9.57.

Kohl's (NYSE:KSS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.09. Kohl's had a net margin of 0.75% and a return on equity of 4.71%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kohl's will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kohl's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 11th. Kohl's's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kohl's from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating on shares of Kohl's in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Kohl's from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Kohl's in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Kohl's from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.75.

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.

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