Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Amer Sports, Inc. (NYSE:AS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 38,585 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 244% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,213 call options.

Insider Activity at Amer Sports

In related news, CFO Andrew E. Page sold 2,022 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.63, for a total transaction of $57,889.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,242.25. This trade represents a 23.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Wen-Chang Chen sold 117,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $3,124,462.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 434,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,567,143. The trade was a 21.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AS. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Amer Sports by 1,306.7% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,214,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,759,000 after purchasing an additional 4,843,742 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Amer Sports by 583.8% in the second quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 3,099,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,893,000 after buying an additional 2,646,364 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Amer Sports by 5,847.1% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,986,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,181,000 after buying an additional 1,952,706 shares during the period. Brilliance Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Amer Sports by 164.9% during the 4th quarter. Brilliance Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,809,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,920,000 after buying an additional 1,748,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amer Sports during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,127,000. Institutional investors own 40.25% of the company’s stock.

Amer Sports Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:AS opened at $28.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Amer Sports has a 12 month low of $26.10 and a 12 month high of $42.76. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.18.

Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 17th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Amer Sports had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 7.35%. The company’s revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Amer Sports will post 1.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Amer Sports from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amer Sports in a report on Monday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Amer Sports from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Amer Sports from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 target price on Amer Sports in a research report on Friday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amer Sports presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

Amer Sports Company Profile

Amer Sports, Inc (NYSE: AS) is a global sporting and outdoor goods company that develops, manufactures and markets equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories for consumers and athletes. Its portfolio spans outdoor, winter sports, racquet sports and fitness categories, with products sold through wholesale partners, company-operated stores and digital channels.

The company’s brand portfolio includes Arc’teryx, known for technical outdoor apparel and equipment; Salomon, which offers trail-running, hiking and winter-sports products; Wilson, a manufacturer of tennis, padel, baseball, basketball and other sporting equipment; Atomic and Armada, which focus on snow sports; and Peak Performance, an outdoor and ski apparel brand.

Amer Sports serves customers internationally across North America, Europe, Asia and other global markets.