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

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

Insider Transactions at Amer Sports

In other news, CFO Andrew E. Page sold 2,022 shares of Amer Sports stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.63, for a total transaction of $57,889.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 6,575 shares in the company, valued at $188,242.25. The trade was a 23.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 434,855 shares in the company, valued at $11,567,143. This 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Amer Sports during the third quarter valued at $176,274,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its position in Amer Sports by 42.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 2,646,364 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Amer Sports during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,127,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Amer Sports by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,672,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,634,000 after buying an additional 768,668 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.25% of the company’s stock.

Amer Sports Price Performance

Amer Sports stock traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $30.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,275,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,107,500. Amer Sports has a fifty-two week low of $26.10 and a fifty-two week high of $42.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.98.

Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 17th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. Amer Sports’s revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Amer Sports will post 1.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Amer Sports in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Amer Sports from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Amer Sports in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Amer Sports from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Amer Sports from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amer Sports has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.67.

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.