Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) Shares Purchased by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.10% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $4,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,971 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,649,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,413,000 after purchasing an additional 197,384 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,092,000 after buying an additional 50,715 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,252,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,068,000 after purchasing an additional 545,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,174,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,573,000 after buying an additional 223,320 shares during the last quarter.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

ASO opened at $46.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.98. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.16 and a 1-year high of $68.96. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASO. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.13.

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.