Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Short Interest Update

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, a drop of 20.5% from the March 31st total of 8,250,000 shares. Approximately 10.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASO. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush decreased their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the third quarter worth about $306,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 4,038 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,139,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,033,000 after buying an additional 8,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 7,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ ASO traded down $1.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $37.80. 1,273,007 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,624,827. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a fifty-two week low of $33.34 and a fifty-two week high of $64.62. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $42.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.29.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 7.49%. The business's revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Academy Sports and Outdoors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Academy Sports and Outdoors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.01%.

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.