Morgan Stanley Cuts Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) Price Target to $52.00

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

ASO has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Academy Sports and Outdoors from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.31.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASO opened at $43.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28. Academy Sports and Outdoors has a 1 year low of $33.34 and a 1 year high of $64.62. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.77.

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Academy Sports and Outdoors had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 23.32%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Academy Sports and Outdoors will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Academy Sports and Outdoors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Academy Sports and Outdoors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Academy Sports and Outdoors during the 4th quarter valued at about $278,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors during the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 41,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after acquiring an additional 16,273 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 45,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 9,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Academy Sports and Outdoors by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 341,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during 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, 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.