Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Acushnet from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, indicating a more cautious outlook on the stock's performance.
• Acushnet reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.25, which missed analysts' expectations by $0.08, despite revenue exceeding estimates by 5.4% year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings show that while one analyst rates the stock as a buy, the majority have given it hold ratings, resulting in an average consensus price target of $73.33.

Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, August 21st,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Acushnet from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Compass Point cut Acushnet from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Acushnet from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Acushnet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.33.

Acushnet Stock Performance

GOLF stock traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $77.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 132,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,767. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $77.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.37. 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 has a 1 year low of $55.31 and a 1 year high of $84.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Insider Transactions at Acushnet

In other news, Director Holdings Corp. Misto sold 953,406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $62,505,297.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,523,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,570,690.68. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mary Louise Bohn sold 13,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.85, for a total value of $1,040,031.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 191,786 shares in the company, valued at $15,122,326.10. This trade represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 53.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Acushnet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOLF. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Acushnet by 93.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 19,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 9,493 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Acushnet by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 65,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 16,689 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Acushnet by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Acushnet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Acushnet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,506,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,097,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. 53.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.