Kohl’s Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KSS)

Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 73,421 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 112% compared to the average daily volume of 34,641 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kohl’s

In other news, CFO Jill Timm sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.75, for a total transaction of $568,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 335,561 shares in the company, valued at $7,634,012.75. This represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kohl’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KSS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Kohl’s by 3,123.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,011,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,783 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kohl’s in the first quarter worth approximately $11,650,000. Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new position in shares of Kohl’s in the third quarter worth $17,125,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Kohl’s during the 1st quarter valued at $7,818,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kohl’s by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,774,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,513,000 after buying an additional 831,055 shares during the period. 98.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kohl’s Price Performance

NYSE KSS traded up $0.72 on Tuesday, reaching $23.42. 1,826,967 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,663,416. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.45. Kohl’s has a 12 month low of $6.04 and a 12 month high of $25.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 25th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. Kohl’s had a net margin of 1.23% and a return on equity of 4.30%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Kohl’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.250-1.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Kohl’s will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Kohl’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. Kohl’s’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KSS. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kohl’s from $4.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Kohl’s from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kohl’s from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Kohl’s in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Kohl’s from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kohl’s currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.18.

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.