Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Purchases New Position in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 303,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,439,000. Academy Sports and Outdoors makes up 2.4% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $118,092,000 after acquiring an additional 50,715 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 66.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 95,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,582,000 after acquiring an additional 38,155 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,974,000 after acquiring an additional 90,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter worth about $633,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of 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. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock opened at $45.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.18 and its 200 day moving average is $53.45. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.16 and a twelve month high of $72.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.30). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.22%.

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.