Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Earns Buy Rating from B. Riley

B. Riley reissued their buy rating on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $72.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $65.00.

ASO has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $55.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.81.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Up 3.7 %

ASO opened at $67.90 on Monday. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 1-year low of $42.83 and a 1-year high of $75.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.84.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 25th. This is a boost from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Academy Sports and Outdoors news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.81, for a total value of $69,022.65. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $587,826.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 124.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,562,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,370,000 after buying an additional 7,507,589 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,578,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,028,000 after purchasing an additional 85,344 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,005,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,986,000 after purchasing an additional 38,395 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,655,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,290,000 after purchasing an additional 80,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,089,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,878,000 after purchasing an additional 559,414 shares during the last quarter.

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, camping accessories and equipment, sunglasses, backpacks, and sports bags; 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, optics, airguns, and hunting equipment.