Critical Review: Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO) versus Its Peers

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Academy Sports and Outdoors to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$6.19 billion	$376.77 million	11.37
Academy Sports and Outdoors Competitors	$7.29 billion	$386.47 million	33.06

Academy Sports and Outdoors’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Academy Sports and Outdoors. Academy Sports and Outdoors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

51.6% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.5% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	6.39%	18.36%	7.29%
Academy Sports and Outdoors Competitors	-3.69%	-14.02%	3.17%

Dividends

Academy Sports and Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Academy Sports and Outdoors pays out 10.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.1% and pay out 35.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Academy Sports and Outdoors has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Academy Sports and Outdoors’ rivals have a beta of 1.91, indicating that their average share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Academy Sports and Outdoors and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	0	8	6	1	2.53
Academy Sports and Outdoors Competitors	3669	15585	21613	590	2.46

Academy Sports and Outdoors presently has a consensus target price of $58.54, indicating a potential downside of 14.18%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 7.62%. Given Academy Sports and Outdoors’ rivals higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Academy Sports and Outdoors has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Summary

Academy Sports and Outdoors rivals beat Academy Sports and Outdoors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. 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.