Academy Sports and Outdoors Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ASO)

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 8,017 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 142% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,317 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lowered Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.67.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of ASO stock opened at $53.97 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.11 and its 200-day moving average is $54.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.25. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 52-week low of $44.73 and a 52-week high of $75.73.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is presently 7.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,570,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 183.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 100,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,326,000 after buying an additional 64,770 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 43.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 612,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,598,000 after buying an additional 185,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,538,000.

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.