Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ASO. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Monday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $77.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $55.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $74.47.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASO opened at $59.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.97. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 52 week low of $42.83 and a 52 week high of $75.73.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Academy Sports and Outdoors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is presently 6.55%.

Institutional Trading of Academy Sports and Outdoors

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 124.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,562,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,370,000 after buying an additional 7,507,589 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 73.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,834,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,872,000 after buying an additional 1,196,076 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 11,157.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,079,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,542,000 after buying an additional 1,070,181 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 680.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,147,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,212,000 after buying an additional 1,000,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 11.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,462,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,817,000 after buying an additional 958,800 shares in the last quarter.

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, camping accessories and equipment, sunglasses, backpacks, and sports bags; 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, optics, airguns, and hunting equipment.