Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 82,677 Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 340,339 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82,677 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors were worth $19,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,739,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,971 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the second quarter worth about $174,054,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,147,000 after purchasing an additional 481,640 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,092,000 after purchasing an additional 50,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 4.2% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,721,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,683,000 after buying an additional 69,700 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ASO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $68.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI cut Academy Sports and Outdoors from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.33.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Up 5.1 %

Shares of ASO stock opened at $61.17 on Friday. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.73 and a 52-week high of $75.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.84 and its 200-day moving average is $53.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.30). Academy Sports and Outdoors had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 7.49%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s payout ratio is presently 7.22%.

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.