Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup downgraded Academy Sports and Outdoors from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating, with a target price of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of only 1.01% from the previous close.
• Academy Sports recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.76 per share, missing analyst expectations and showing a 0.9% year-over-year revenue decline.
• As of now, Academy Sports has an average rating of "Hold" from analysts, with eight analysts recommending a Buy and nine giving a Hold rating, reflecting mixed sentiments about the stock's future performance.

Citigroup lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $50.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $55.00.

ASO has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital set a $65.00 price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Monday, August 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.71.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASO traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $50.86. 1,360,622 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,558,572. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 52 week low of $33.34 and a 52 week high of $64.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $51.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.30. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.13). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Academy Sports and Outdoors has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.450-6.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Academy Sports and Outdoors's payout ratio is 9.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Academy Sports and Outdoors news, Director Christopher Lee Turner sold 4,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total value of $195,712.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,084 shares in the company, valued at $315,096.32. The trade was a 38.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASO. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the company's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 14,874 shares of the company's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,422 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 17,636 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter.

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.