Head to Head Survey: Academy Sports and Outdoors (NASDAQ:ASO) versus Shimano (OTCMKTS:SMNNY)

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

Dividends

Academy Sports and Outdoors pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Shimano pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Academy Sports and Outdoors pays out 10.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Shimano pays out 50.0% 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. Academy Sports and Outdoors is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Academy Sports and Outdoors and Shimano, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Academy Sports and Outdoors	0	10	8	1	2.53
Shimano	0	0	0	0	0.00

Academy Sports and Outdoors presently has a consensus price target of $58.94, suggesting a potential upside of 25.93%. Given Academy Sports and Outdoors’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Academy Sports and Outdoors is more favorable than Shimano.

Risk and Volatility

Academy Sports and Outdoors has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shimano has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Shimano shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Academy Sports and Outdoors shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Academy Sports and Outdoors	6.24%	17.85%	7.08%
Shimano	7.67%	2.85%	2.64%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Academy Sports and Outdoors and Shimano”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Academy Sports and Outdoors	$6.05 billion	0.48	$376.77 million	$5.68	8.24
Shimano	$3.12 billion	2.96	$227.74 million	$0.26	41.08

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

Summary

Academy Sports and Outdoors beats Shimano on 14 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 Shimano

Shimano Inc. develops, produces, and distributes bicycle components, fishing tackles, and rowing equipment. It has operations in Japan, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Oceania. Shimano Inc. was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Sakai, Japan.