Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Short Interest Up 6.1% in September

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,880,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the September 15th total of 5,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 8.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Academy Sports and Outdoors

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total transaction of $74,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,172. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASO. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 4th quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

Shares of ASO stock opened at $55.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.57. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $75.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.73%.

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.