Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Shares Up 5.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $51.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Academy Sports and Outdoors traded as high as $55.46 and last traded at $55.40. Approximately 507,846 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 1,456,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.58.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on ASO. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Academy Sports and Outdoors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $74,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $552,172. This represents a 11.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the second quarter worth about $174,054,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,971 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,147,000 after acquiring an additional 481,640 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 62.5% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 951,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,515,000 after acquiring an additional 365,929 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 203.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 514,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,998,000 after acquiring an additional 344,466 shares during the period.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Up 4.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.30). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.79%.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Company Profile

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a sporting goods and outdoor recreational retailer in the United States. The company outdoor division comprises camping products, such as coolers and drinkware, and camping accessories and equipment,; fishing products, including marine equipment and fishing rods, reels, and baits and equipment; and hunting products, which includes firearms, ammunition, archery and archery equipment, camouflage apparel, waders, shooting accessories, gun safes, optics, airguns, and hunting equipment.