Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Key Points

• Acushnet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, payable on September 19th to investors who are recorded on September 5th, representing an annual yield of 1.3%.
• The company's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $1.25, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 despite a 5.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $720.48 million.
• Analysts have varied expectations for Acushnet, with price targets ranging from $63 to $85, and a consensus rating of "Hold" on the stock.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.235 per share on Friday, September 19th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th.

Acushnet has a dividend payout ratio of 27.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Acushnet to earn $3.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.1%.

Acushnet Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE GOLF traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.83. 47,227 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 480,145. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.25. Acushnet has a twelve month low of $55.31 and a twelve month high of $84.40.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.08). Acushnet had a return on equity of 28.05% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $720.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Acushnet will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Acushnet

In other Acushnet news, Director Holdings Corp. Misto sold 953,406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $62,505,297.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,523,653 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,570,690.68. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 53.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acushnet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acushnet by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,090,666 shares of the company's stock worth $212,205,000 after purchasing an additional 269,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Acushnet by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,549,266 shares of the company's stock worth $106,366,000 after purchasing an additional 42,533 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Acushnet by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,310,965 shares of the company's stock worth $90,011,000 after purchasing an additional 82,247 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acushnet by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,104,699 shares of the company's stock worth $75,849,000 after purchasing an additional 80,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Acushnet by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 948,210 shares of the company's stock worth $65,104,000 after purchasing an additional 65,922 shares during the last quarter. 53.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.