Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Cut to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $50.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $55.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ASO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $43.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.71.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Up 1.6%

ASO opened at $50.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.34. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 52 week low of $33.34 and a 52 week high of $64.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.13). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Academy Sports and Outdoors has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.450-6.25 EPS. Analysts forecast that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 11th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is 9.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher Lee Turner sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.48, for a total value of $195,712.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315,096.32. This represents a 38.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 214.6% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 101.5% during the first quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 816 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 45.6% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 89.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the first quarter worth approximately $64,000.

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.