Guggenheim Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS)

DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by research analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

DKS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus increased their price objective on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods from $240.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, DICK’S Sporting Goods presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.55.

DICK’S Sporting Goods Price Performance

NYSE DKS opened at $186.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $230.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.77. DICK’S Sporting Goods has a 52-week low of $182.84 and a 52-week high of $254.60. The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.53.

DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The sporting goods retailer reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.15. DICK’S Sporting Goods had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 42.00%. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that DICK’S Sporting Goods will post 13.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DICK’S Sporting Goods declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 11th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the sporting goods retailer to reacquire up to 18.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Edward W. Stack sold 160,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.25, for a total transaction of $36,817,550.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 8,362,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,917,017,844. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Julie Lodge-Jarrett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.99, for a total transaction of $1,139,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,762,746.96. This represents a 23.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,933 shares of company stock valued at $39,655,456 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 32.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of DICK’S Sporting Goods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DKS. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 20.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,831 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 253.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 612 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 12.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 143,056 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock valued at $29,856,000 after buying an additional 15,591 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in DICK’S Sporting Goods by 99.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 124,119 shares of the sporting goods retailer’s stock valued at $25,904,000 after buying an additional 61,767 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in DICK’S Sporting Goods during the third quarter valued at $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.83% of the company’s stock.

About DICK’S Sporting Goods

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc engages in the retailing of an extensive assortment of authentic sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories. It also offers its products both online and through mobile applications. The company was founded by Richard T. Stack in 1948 and is headquartered in Coraopolis, PA.