Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 8,035 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 30.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,787 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,035 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors were worth $2,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ASO. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,755,000 after buying an additional 1,422,971 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,649,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,413,000 after acquiring an additional 197,384 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 50,715 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,174,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,573,000 after acquiring an additional 223,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 331.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 959,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,210,000 after acquiring an additional 737,212 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ASO shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.13.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ ASO opened at $48.29 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.78 and a 200 day moving average of $53.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.16 and a 1 year high of $68.96.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.01%.

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.