Academy Sports and Outdoors Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ASO)

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 10,137 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 357% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,216 put options.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASO opened at $47.80 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.33. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 1-year low of $45.47 and a 1-year high of $75.73.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.79%.

Insider Transactions at Academy Sports and Outdoors

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total transaction of $74,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,172. This trade represents a 11.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Academy Sports and Outdoors

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the first quarter valued at $35,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the third quarter worth $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 98.4% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ASO shares. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.50.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Company Profile

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.