Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) vs. Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) Head to Head Comparison

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) and Pool (NASDAQ:POOL) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.0% of Pool shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Pool shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pool has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Pool’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	6.27%	18.24%	7.18%
Pool	7.77%	31.40%	11.43%

Dividends

Academy Sports and Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Pool pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Academy Sports and Outdoors pays out 9.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pool pays out 45.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Academy Sports and Outdoors has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Pool has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Pool is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Pool”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$5.93 billion	0.66	$418.45 million	$5.47	10.67
Pool	$5.31 billion	1.87	$434.33 million	$10.97	24.32

Pool has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Academy Sports and Outdoors. Academy Sports and Outdoors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pool, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Academy Sports and Outdoors and Pool, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	0	10	10	0	2.50
Pool	1	6	4	1	2.42

Academy Sports and Outdoors currently has a consensus target price of $59.89, indicating a potential upside of 2.60%. Pool has a consensus target price of $308.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.47%. Given Pool’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Pool is more favorable than Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Summary

Pool beats Academy Sports and Outdoors on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Its sports and recreation division offers fitness equipment, fitness accessories, and nutrition supplies; team and specialty sports equipment, including baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, racket sports, volleyball, backpacks, and sports bags; recreation products, which includes patio furniture, outdoor cooking, trampolines, play sets, watersports, and pet equipment, as well as wheeled goods including bicycles, skateboards, and other ride-on toys; and electronics and watches, as well as front-end products, such as consumables, batteries, etc. The company's apparel division provides outdoor and seasonal apparel, denim, work apparel, graphic t-shirts, and accessories; boys and girls outdoor, and athletic apparel; sporting and fitness apparel; and professional and collegiate team licensed apparel and accessories. Its footwear division offers casual shoes, slippers, seasonal footwear, and socks; work and western boots, shoes, and hunting footwear; boys and girls footwear; athletic footwear, such as running shoes, athletic lifestyle, and training shoes; and team and specialty sports footwear, and slides. The company sells its products under the Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O'rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, and Freely brand names. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Katy, Texas.

About Pool

Pool Corporation distributes swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in the United States and internationally. The company offers maintenance products, including chemicals, supplies, and pool accessories; repair and replacement parts for pool equipment, such as cleaners, filters, heaters, pumps, and lights; and building materials, such as concrete, plumbing and electrical components, functional and decorative pool surfaces, decking materials, tiles, hardscapes, and natural stones for pool installations and remodeling. It also provides pool equipment and components for new pool construction and the remodeling of existing pools; irrigation and related products, such as irrigation system components, and professional turf care equipment and supplies; commercial products, including heaters, safety equipment, commercial decking equipment, and commercial pumps and filters. In addition, the company offers fiberglass pools, and hot tubs and packaged pool kits comprising walls, liners, braces, and coping for in-ground and above-ground pools; and other pool construction and recreational products comprising discretionary recreational and related outdoor living products, such as grills and components for outdoor kitchens. It serves swimming pool remodelers and builders; specialty retailers that sell swimming pool supplies; swimming pool repair and service businesses; irrigation construction and landscape maintenance contractors; and commercial pool operators and pool contractors. Pool Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Covington, Louisiana.