Amer Sports Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AS)

Amer Sports, Inc. (NYSE:AS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 38,585 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 244% compared to the average volume of 11,213 call options.

Amer Sports Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE AS traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,320,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,056,201. Amer Sports has a one year low of $26.10 and a one year high of $42.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.04.

Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 17th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.11. Amer Sports had a net margin of 7.35% and a return on equity of 11.18%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Amer Sports’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amer Sports will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amer Sports

In other news, CFO Andrew E. Page sold 2,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.63, for a total value of $57,889.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,242.25. The trade was a 23.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $3,124,462.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 434,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,567,143. This represents 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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amer Sports by 45.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amer Sports during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,992,000. Junto Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Amer Sports by 583.8% in the 2nd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 3,099,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,893,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646,364 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Amer Sports by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 62,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Amer Sports by 45.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,890 shares during the last quarter. 40.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AS. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Amer Sports in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Amer Sports in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Amer Sports from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Amer Sports in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Amer Sports from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.