Penn Capital Management Company LLC Acquires 24,674 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Penn Capital Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,851 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,674 shares during the quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $10,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASO. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 240.8% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 702 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 1,307.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 985 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 242.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 724.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.63.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ASO opened at $37.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.28. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.34 and a 1-year high of $64.62.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 7.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is 9.01%.

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.