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

Amer Sports, Inc. (NYSE:AS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 23,440 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 86% compared to the typical volume of 12,603 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AS shares. Barclays increased their price target 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 restated a “buy” rating on shares of Amer Sports in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Amer Sports from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Truist Financial cut 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 note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Amer Sports in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew Page sold 2,022 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.63, for a total value of $57,889.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,242.25. This represents a 23.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 434,855 shares in the company, valued at $11,567,143. This trade represents a 21.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Institutional Trading of Amer Sports

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Amer Sports during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $176,274,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in Amer Sports by 42.1% during the first quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 3,665,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,657,000 after buying an additional 1,086,616 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,646,364 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Amer Sports in the first quarter worth $56,127,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Amer Sports by 85.1% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,672,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,634,000 after acquiring an additional 768,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.25% of the company’s stock.

Amer Sports Price Performance

AS opened at $29.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.76. Amer Sports has a 52-week low of $26.10 and a 52-week high of $42.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.42.

Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 17th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.11. Amer Sports had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 7.35%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Amer Sports will post 1.30 EPS for the current year.

Amer Sports Company Profile

Amer Sports is a global sporting goods company whose portfolio includes Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Peak Performance and other brands. Its products span technical apparel and footwear, outdoor and winter sports equipment, and gear for sports such as tennis, baseball and basketball. The company serves consumers and athletes in markets around the world through its brands’ retail, wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. Its operations are organized around technical apparel, outdoor performance, and ball and racquet sports.