Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Compass Point lowered shares of Acushnet from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Acushnet from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Tigress Financial raised shares of Acushnet from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Acushnet from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Acushnet has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Acushnet Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GOLF opened at $49.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.65. Acushnet has a one year low of $37.46 and a one year high of $54.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.93.

Acushnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Acushnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. Acushnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Insider Transactions at Acushnet

In other news, Director Holdings Corp. Fila sold 2,168,528 shares of Acushnet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $99,990,826.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,935,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,610,874,982.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Thomas Pacheco sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $1,038,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,368 shares in the company, valued at $3,134,306.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Holdings Corp. Fila sold 2,168,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $99,990,826.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,935,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,610,874,982.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,203,528 shares of company stock worth $101,811,476. Company insiders own 53.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLF. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Acushnet by 55.2% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Acushnet in the first quarter valued at $270,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Acushnet by 4.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,530,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,630,000 after buying an additional 64,464 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in Acushnet by 10.1% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 51,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 4,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Acushnet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,126,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,883,000 after buying an additional 24,312 shares in the last quarter. 49.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Acushnet

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Acushnet Holdings Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and distribution of performance-driven golf products. It operates through the following segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear, FootJoy Golf Wear, and Other. The Titleist Golf Balls segment is involved in the design and manufacture of golf balls.