Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 2,936 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,628 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,936 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors were worth $5,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 6.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,679,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the third quarter worth $1,221,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 24.9% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,755,000 after purchasing an additional 50,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter valued at $323,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ASO shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wedbush dropped their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Academy Sports and Outdoors has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.69.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

Shares of ASO stock opened at $37.60 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.38. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a one year low of $33.38 and a one year high of $64.62.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 7.49%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is a positive change from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.01%.

Academy Sports and Outdoors 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.