Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.36 Million Stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,677 shares of the company’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors were worth $1,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,092,000 after acquiring an additional 50,715 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 66.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 95,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,582,000 after purchasing an additional 38,155 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,971 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 712,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,974,000 after purchasing an additional 90,592 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in the third quarter valued at about $633,000.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors stock opened at $47.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.16 and a 12-month high of $68.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.15.

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

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Academy Sports and Outdoors has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.38.

Academy Sports and Outdoors 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.