Short Interest in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Grows By 27.9%

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,280,000 shares, a growth of 27.9% from the October 31st total of 4,910,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Activity at Academy Sports and Outdoors

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total transaction of $74,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,172. The trade was a 11.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 purchasing an additional 1,422,971 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $174,054,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,147,000 after buying an additional 481,640 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.2% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,721,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,683,000 after acquiring an additional 69,700 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.57.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ASO traded up $1.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $50.60. 376,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,430,933. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.76 and its 200 day moving average is $53.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.66. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a fifty-two week low of $44.73 and a fifty-two week high of $75.73.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.79%.

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.