Morgan Stanley Cuts Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Price Target to $55.00

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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 Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.38.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Down 0.4 %

ASO opened at $47.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 12 month low of $43.16 and a 12 month high of $68.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.09 and a 200 day moving average of $53.15.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is 8.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,092,000 after buying an additional 50,715 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $5,582,000 after buying an additional 38,155 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,974,000 after buying an additional 90,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter valued at $633,000.

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.