Share Buyback Program Declared by DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS)

DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the sporting goods retailer to buy up to 18.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DKS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on DICK’S Sporting Goods from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Argus increased their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on DICK’S Sporting Goods from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded DICK’S Sporting Goods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, DICK’S Sporting Goods has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.09.

DICK’S Sporting Goods Price Performance

Shares of DICK’S Sporting Goods stock traded down $11.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $199.20. 4,173,723 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,178,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.53. DICK’S Sporting Goods has a 52 week low of $180.80 and a 52 week high of $254.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.94.

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

DICK’S Sporting Goods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $1.2125 per share. This represents a $4.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. This is an increase from DICK’S Sporting Goods’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. DICK’S Sporting Goods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawrence J. Schorr sold 7,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.55, for a total transaction of $1,697,956.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,808,355.35. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $36,817,550.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 8,362,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,917,017,844. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,933 shares of company stock worth $39,655,456 in the last 90 days. 32.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.