COST hit all-time high just this afternoon
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is an American multinational corporation that operates a chain of membership-only retail stores. Costco is one of largest retailer in the world. This afternoon, COST was last seen trading up 1.7% at $490.39.
Costco stock has increased in value about 34% year-over-year and has added 59% since bottoming at a 52-week low of $307.00 in March. Additionally, shares of COST have grown 30% year-to-date and Costco stock just hit a fresh record high of $492.21 earlier today.
On Oct. 13, Costco Wholesale Corporation declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.79 per share. The quarterly dividend is payable on Nov. 12 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 29. Moreover, COST offers a forward dividend of $3.16 and a dividend yield of 0.66%.
From a fundamental point of view, Costco stock remains an intriguing investment despite COST’s current valuation. COST currently trades at an inflated price-earnings ratio of 42.77 and has a forward price-earnings ratio of 39.84. Moreover, the membership retail company has a completely manageable balance sheet with $12.17 billion in cash and $11.41 billion in total debt. In general, Costco stock promises modest but secure long-term gains for investors even at its current peak.
The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.15 echoes this, and stands in the 87th percentile of its annual range. This means short-term options traders have not been this put-biased over the past 12 months.
Now looks like an excellent time to speculate on Costco stock's next move with options. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at 90 out of a possible 100, meaning options traders have been pricing in relatively low volatility expectations for COST, and that the stock has tended to exceed these expectations.