Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Raises Dividend to $0.13 Per Share

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share on Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. This is a 18.2% increase from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a payout ratio of 5.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Academy Sports and Outdoors to earn $6.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.0%.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ ASO traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.84. 342,248 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,437,235. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 12-month low of $44.73 and a 12-month high of $74.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.80.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last posted its 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). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on 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 began coverage on Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

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.