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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASO. TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group reduced 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 research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Down 2.7 %

ASO stock traded down $1.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $50.89. 957,973 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,490,301. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.00. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 12 month low of $44.73 and a 12 month high of $75.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.23.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.30). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 7.49%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is currently 7.22%.

Institutional Trading of Academy Sports and Outdoors

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 331.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 959,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,210,000 after purchasing an additional 737,212 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 62.5% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 951,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,515,000 after purchasing an additional 365,929 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 203.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 514,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,998,000 after buying an additional 344,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,649,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,413,000 after buying an additional 197,384 shares during the period.

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.