Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Purchases 50,842 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,712 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,842 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.31% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $12,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 6,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 5,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 6.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer lowered 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 note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.13.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Down 4.6 %

ASO stock opened at $46.07 on Friday. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.16 and a fifty-two week high of $68.96. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.98.

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

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This is an increase from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is 9.01%.

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.