Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) versus Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) Critical Contrast

Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) and Acushnet (NYSE:GOLF) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Acushnet”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$6.01 billion	0.66	$418.45 million	$5.47	10.87
Acushnet	$2.53 billion	2.32	$214.30 million	$3.66	27.30

Academy Sports and Outdoors has higher revenue and earnings than Acushnet. Academy Sports and Outdoors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acushnet, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Academy Sports and Outdoors and Acushnet, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	0	10	10	0	2.50
Acushnet	0	6	1	1	2.38

Academy Sports and Outdoors presently has a consensus price target of $59.89, suggesting a potential upside of 0.72%. Acushnet has a consensus price target of $87.83, suggesting a potential downside of 12.09%. Given Academy Sports and Outdoors’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Academy Sports and Outdoors is more favorable than Acushnet.

Volatility and Risk

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acushnet has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

53.1% of Acushnet shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 53.6% of Acushnet shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Academy Sports and Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Acushnet pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Academy Sports and Outdoors pays out 9.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acushnet pays out 25.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Academy Sports and Outdoors has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Acushnet has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Acushnet is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Acushnet’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	6.27%	18.24%	7.18%
Acushnet	8.80%	27.50%	9.53%

Summary

Acushnet beats Academy Sports and Outdoors on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Its sports and recreation division offers fitness equipment, fitness accessories, and nutrition supplies; team and specialty sports equipment, including baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, racket sports, volleyball, backpacks, and sports bags; recreation products, which includes patio furniture, outdoor cooking, trampolines, play sets, watersports, and pet equipment, as well as wheeled goods including bicycles, skateboards, and other ride-on toys; and electronics and watches, as well as front-end products, such as consumables, batteries, etc. The company's apparel division provides outdoor and seasonal apparel, denim, work apparel, graphic t-shirts, and accessories; boys and girls outdoor, and athletic apparel; sporting and fitness apparel; and professional and collegiate team licensed apparel and accessories. Its footwear division offers casual shoes, slippers, seasonal footwear, and socks; work and western boots, shoes, and hunting footwear; boys and girls footwear; athletic footwear, such as running shoes, athletic lifestyle, and training shoes; and team and specialty sports footwear, and slides. The company sells its products under the Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O'rageous, Game Winner, Outdoor Gourmet, and Freely brand names. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Katy, Texas.

About Acushnet

Acushnet Holdings Corp. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes golf products in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, Korea, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Titleist Golf Balls, Titleist Golf Clubs, Titleist Golf Gear, and FootJoy Golf Wear. It offers golf balls under the Titleist brand; golf clubs, such as drivers, fairways, hybrids, and irons under the Titleist brand; wedges under the Vokey Design brand; and putters under the Scotty Cameron brand. The company also provides golf bags, headwear, golf gloves, travel products, and other golf accessories. In addition, it offers golf shoes, gloves, golf outerwear, and men’s and women’s golf apparel under the FootJoy brand; and ski, golf, and lifestyle apparel under the KJUS brand name. It sells its products through on-course golf shops and golf specialty retailers, as well as through representatives, other retailers, and online. The company was formerly known as Alexandria Holdings Corp. and changed its name to Acushnet Holdings Corp. in March 2016. Acushnet Holdings Corp. was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.