Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Short Interest Up 27.9% in November

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,280,000 shares, an increase of 27.9% from the October 31st total of 4,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity at Academy Sports and Outdoors

In other Academy Sports and Outdoors news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $74,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,906 shares in the company, valued at $552,172. The trade was a 11.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 162,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,648,000 after acquiring an additional 10,416 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 17.6% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 808,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,040,000 after purchasing an additional 121,115 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the first quarter worth $1,000,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,755,000 after buying an additional 1,422,971 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 222,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,983,000 after buying an additional 39,134 shares in the last quarter.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

Shares of ASO stock traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.60. 376,763 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,430,933. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.62. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 12-month low of $44.73 and a 12-month high of $75.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.37.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is 6.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ASO shares. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Academy Sports and Outdoors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.57.

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.