Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in Acushnet $GOLF

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Acushnet by 9.6%, owning approximately 5.15% of the company, valued at $212.2 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Acushnet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.94 with a yield of 1.2%.
• Several analysts have altered their price targets for Acushnet, with most recent adjustments ranging from $65.00 to $85.00, reflecting a mix of ratings from Buy to Hold.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,090,666 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 269,742 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.15% of Acushnet worth $212,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLF. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Acushnet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,124 shares of the company's stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Acushnet by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 19,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 9,493 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Acushnet by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 65,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,638,000 after acquiring an additional 16,689 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Acushnet by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Acushnet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Institutional investors own 53.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acushnet

In other news, Director Holdings Corp. Misto sold 953,406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $62,505,297.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mary Louise Bohn sold 13,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.85, for a total transaction of $1,040,031.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 191,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,122,326.10. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 53.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Acushnet Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of GOLF stock traded up $2.4520 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.5520. 387,306 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 410,902. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $77.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.08. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 0.84. Acushnet has a 12 month low of $55.31 and a 12 month high of $84.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $720.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.70 million. Acushnet had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 28.05%. Acushnet's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Acushnet will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Acushnet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Acushnet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOLF shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Acushnet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Acushnet from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Acushnet from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Compass Point lowered shares of Acushnet from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.33.

Acushnet Company 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.