Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Takes Position in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. $ASO

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 1.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 345,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,279 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 10,181.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 127,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,829,000 after purchasing an additional 126,556 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the first quarter valued at $351,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 325,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,856,000 after purchasing an additional 13,761 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “positive” rating on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher Lee Turner sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total transaction of $195,712.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,096.32. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.62% of the company’s stock.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Down 0.8%

ASO stock opened at $50.47 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.00 and a 200-day moving average of $46.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.30. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a one year low of $33.34 and a one year high of $64.61.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 6.21%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is currently 9.74%.

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.