Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New $1.13 Million Investment in Acushnet $GOLF

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased 16,500 shares of Acushnet, valued at approximately $1.13 million, marking a new investment in the company.
• Acushnet reported $720.48 million in revenue for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, but its earnings per share fell short of expectations at $1.25.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235, which will yield approximately 1.2% annually, with the dividend payout ratio at 25.13%.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Acushnet during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Acushnet in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Acushnet by 96.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 651 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Acushnet in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in Acushnet by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 818 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.12% of the company's stock.

Acushnet Stock Performance

GOLF stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $75.10. 44,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 466,470. Acushnet has a 1-year low of $55.31 and a 1-year high of $84.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.21.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Acushnet will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Acushnet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Acushnet's payout ratio is 25.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOLF shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Acushnet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Acushnet from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Acushnet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Acushnet currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.33.

Insider Transactions at Acushnet

In related news, insider Mary Louise Bohn sold 13,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.85, for a total value of $1,040,031.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 191,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,122,326.10. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Holdings Corp. Misto sold 953,406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 29,523,653 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,570,690.68. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 53.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Acushnet Profile

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.