Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 6,244 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,244 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $3,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASO. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 6,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 5,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 6.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plan Group Financial LLC raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ ASO opened at $45.10 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.45. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a one year low of $43.16 and a one year high of $72.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41, a P/E/G 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.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.30). The firm 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 firm’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. This is a positive change from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.22%.

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.