Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ESCA. Zacks Research raised Escalade from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Escalade Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ESCA opened at $13.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.78. Escalade has a 1-year low of $11.41 and a 1-year high of $16.99. The stock has a market cap of $184.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.71.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $67.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.83 million. Escalade had a return on equity of 7.49% and a net margin of 5.26%. Equities analysts forecast that Escalade will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio is 65.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Escalade news, CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 2,000 shares of Escalade stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $26,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $533,000. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard Fenton Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total transaction of $71,370.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 100,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,305,122. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $156,100 in the last 90 days. 28.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Escalade

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Escalade by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Escalade by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Escalade by 8.0% in the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Escalade in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in Escalade by 11.7% during the third quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 19,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

Escalade Company Profile

Escalade, Inc is a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of recreational equipment and specialty products for both consumer and commercial markets. Headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, the company operates through two principal business segments: Sporting Goods and Commercial Products. The Sporting Goods segment encompasses a diverse range of products such as hockey and lacrosse goal assemblies, fitness accessories, archery and hunting gear, and table tennis equipment. The Commercial Products segment focuses on seating solutions for restaurants, hospitality venues and other public spaces under the Top Seat brand, as well as storage, display products and industrial carts.

Within Sporting Goods, Escalade markets its products under proprietary brands including Bear® Archery, Gene St.