Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,618 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.08% of Academy Sports and Outdoors worth $3,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $174,054,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 worth $158,147,000 after purchasing an additional 481,640 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 62.5% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 951,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,515,000 after purchasing an additional 365,929 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors in the second quarter valued at $10,224,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in 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 worth $32,598,000 after buying an additional 185,295 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.57.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

Academy Sports and Outdoors stock opened at $49.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.83. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.98% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is 6.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey C. Tweedy sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.00, for a total value of $74,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,172. This represents a 11.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.19% of the company’s stock.

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.