Wall Street Zen Upgrades Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) to “Strong-Buy”

Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

JOUT has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Johnson Outdoors in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Johnson Outdoors from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Johnson Outdoors Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson Outdoors stock opened at $46.88 on Friday. Johnson Outdoors has a one year low of $21.33 and a one year high of $50.99. The company has a market cap of $488.02 million, a P/E ratio of -13.99, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.30.

Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 12th. The company reported ($2.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.68) by ($2.15). Johnson Outdoors had a negative net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The business had revenue of $135.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($3.35) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson Outdoors will post -0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward F. Lang sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.94, for a total value of $87,880.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,171 shares in the company, valued at $1,413,593.74. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 28.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in Johnson Outdoors by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 418,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,748,000 after purchasing an additional 17,700 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Johnson Outdoors by 0.4% in the third quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 329,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,318,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Outdoors by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 296,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,973,000 after acquiring an additional 15,345 shares in the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Johnson Outdoors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,676,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Johnson Outdoors by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 185,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,510,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.05% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Johnson Outdoors

Here are the key news stories impacting Johnson Outdoors this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue surged 31% to $140.9M, well above estimates — broad-based strength led by fishing, camping and diving sales. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: GAAP EPS loss of $(0.33) beat the consensus $(0.45), and operating loss narrowed sharply to $(2.9)M from $(20.2)M a year ago — evidence of improving profitability. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Gross margin improved to 36.6% (from 29.9%) and cash + short-term investments rose to $130.7M; the company also declared a quarterly cash dividend. These items support liquidity and shareholder returns. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Segment detail: fishing revenue up ~36% (new product traction), camping & watercraft +12%, diving +15% — seasonal selling periods still ahead (Q2–Q3). Management emphasized continued investments in new products and digital commerce. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Net loss remains $(3.3)M and the company still shows a negative net margin and negative ROE; analysts expect the company to remain unprofitable this year (consensus ~-0.58 EPS). Continued losses leave valuation metrics and forward profitability uncertain. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operating expenses rose modestly (to $54.5M) and other legacy costs still weigh on margins; investors may be taking profits after a recent run, contributing to today’s downward stock move and higher-than-normal volume. Read More.

About Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors Inc is a diversified outdoor recreation company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of gear and equipment for marine and land-based activities. The company operates through two primary segments: the Marine Electronics & Boat Group and the Outdoor Products Group. Its marine offerings include electric motors and anchors under the Minn Kota® brand, fish-finding and sonar systems under the Humminbird® brand, and a lineup of recreational watercraft under the Old Town® and Ocean Kayak® names.