Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 51,988 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,894 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors were worth $3,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASO. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the second quarter worth $174,054,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,147,000 after buying an additional 481,640 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the second quarter valued at $10,224,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 43.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 612,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,598,000 after buying an additional 185,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 739.5% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 167,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,940,000 after buying an additional 147,890 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total transaction of $74,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,906 shares in the company, valued at $552,172. This represents a 11.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASO opened at $46.64 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.20, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.37. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a one year low of $44.73 and a one year high of $75.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Academy Sports and Outdoors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.57.

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.