Academy Sports and Outdoors Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:ASO)

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 10,137 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 357% compared to the average daily volume of 2,216 put options.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASO opened at $47.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.66. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a fifty-two week low of $45.47 and a fifty-two week high of $75.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.37.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Academy Sports and Outdoors news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value 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 11.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,971 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the second quarter worth about $174,054,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,147,000 after purchasing an additional 481,640 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,092,000 after buying an additional 50,715 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,721,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,683,000 after buying an additional 69,700 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASO shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.50.

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.