Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Downgraded to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ESCA. Zacks Research raised Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Price Performance

Shares of ESCA opened at $17.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 4.28. Escalade has a one year low of $11.41 and a one year high of $18.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.66 and its 200-day moving average is $13.80.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $62.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.55 million. Escalade had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 5.70%. Equities analysts anticipate that Escalade will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Escalade Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.1525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Escalade’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Escalade during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Escalade by 439.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Escalade during the third quarter worth about $141,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Escalade by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Escalade by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 3,701 shares during the period. 65.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.