Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE:GOLF) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.80.

GOLF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point raised Acushnet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Acushnet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Acushnet from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Acushnet from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acushnet

In related news, insider Steven Francis Pelisek sold 20,000 shares of Acushnet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.86, for a total value of $1,417,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,802,985.16. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acushnet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Acushnet by 6.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,013,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,632,000 after buying an additional 63,294 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Acushnet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,443,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Acushnet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 441,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,118,000 after acquiring an additional 10,762 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Acushnet in the 3rd quarter valued at $508,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Acushnet by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 8,268 shares during the last quarter. 53.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Acushnet Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLF opened at $68.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.45 and its 200-day moving average is $67.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.10. Acushnet has a 52-week low of $58.54 and a 52-week high of $76.65. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 0.79.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.31. Acushnet had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The company had revenue of $445.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $454.83 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Acushnet will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Acushnet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This is an increase from Acushnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Acushnet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.23%.

About Acushnet

Acushnet Holdings Corp. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes golf products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, Korea, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear, and FootJoy Golf Wear.