Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Short Interest Update

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,910,000 shares, a decline of 23.2% from the October 15th total of 6,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASO opened at $49.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.49. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 12 month low of $45.47 and a 12 month high of $75.73.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is 6.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 8,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $552,172. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Academy Sports and Outdoors

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $240,000. FMR LLC raised its position 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. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter valued at $633,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 127.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 116,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,785,000 after purchasing an additional 65,220 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 66.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 95,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,582,000 after purchasing an additional 38,155 shares in the last quarter.

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.