Royce & Associates LP Buys 365,929 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 62.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 951,256 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 365,929 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.35% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $55,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASO. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 130,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,829,000 after buying an additional 38,288 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 39,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,674,000 after purchasing an additional 16,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASO opened at $49.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.61, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.42. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.47 and a twelve month high of $75.73.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is 6.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $74,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,172. This represents a 11.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Academy Sports and Outdoors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.50.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Company 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.