Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Now Covered by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ASO. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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 report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.33.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

NASDAQ ASO traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.41. 173,999 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,476,667. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.43. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 1 year low of $44.73 and a 1 year high of $75.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.31.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASO. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,139,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 94.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 4,038 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter worth $306,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,092,000 after acquiring an additional 50,715 shares during the last quarter.

About Academy Sports and Outdoors

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.