Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,720,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 8,170,000 shares. Currently, 12.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ASO. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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, December 11th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, 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, December 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.67.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASO opened at $52.58 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a twelve month low of $44.73 and a twelve month high of $75.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 7.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the second quarter valued at $174,054,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $158,147,000 after acquiring an additional 481,640 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 62.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased 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 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.