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

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,170,000 shares, a growth of 13.9% from the November 30th total of 7,170,000 shares. Approximately 11.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the second quarter valued at $174,054,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,755,000 after buying an additional 1,422,971 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,147,000 after buying an additional 481,640 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 62.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 951,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,515,000 after buying an additional 365,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $29,998,000 after acquiring an additional 344,466 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASO has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on 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. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.33.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.91. 228,051 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,484,415. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.58. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 52-week low of $44.73 and a 52-week high of $75.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.92 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.22%.

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.