Short Interest in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Expands By 8.7%

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,390,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the September 30th total of 5,880,000 shares. Approximately 9.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 796,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,427,001. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 1-year low of $43.62 and a 1-year high of $75.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.97.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.57 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 7.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. 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

ASO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Academy Sports and Outdoors from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI downgraded Academy Sports and Outdoors from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $552,172. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the second quarter valued at $174,054,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,147,000 after acquiring an additional 481,640 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 169.0% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 510,727 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,494,000 after acquiring an additional 320,835 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,224,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 43.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 612,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,598,000 after purchasing an additional 185,295 shares in the last quarter.

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.