Royce & Associates LP Acquires 98,582 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,273,158 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,582 shares during the quarter. Academy Sports and Outdoors comprises approximately 0.6% of Royce & Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.91% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $58,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in the fourth quarter worth $2,342,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 10,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 34,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,001,000 after buying an additional 8,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,252,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,068,000 after buying an additional 545,778 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.06.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Down 1.2%

ASO traded down $0.67 on Thursday, hitting $56.20. The company had a trading volume of 209,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,145. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.34 and a 52-week high of $64.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.13). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 6.55%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is 9.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher Lee Turner sold 4,400 shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total transaction of $195,712.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $315,096.32. This trade represents a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.62% of the company’s stock.

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.