Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ESCA. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Escalade from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Escalade Stock Performance

Shares of ESCA opened at $22.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.11 million, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.58. Escalade has a 1 year low of $11.41 and a 1 year high of $23.07.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.52. Escalade had a return on equity of 13.11% and a net margin of 9.46%.The business had revenue of $57.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.60 million. Analysts predict that Escalade will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Escalade

In related news, CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 3,177 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.40, for a total transaction of $67,987.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $963,000. The trade was a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Fenton Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.27, for a total value of $111,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 97,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,177,872.38. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 33.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Escalade

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Escalade by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 567,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,657,000 after buying an additional 17,429 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Escalade in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,851,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Escalade by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 221,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Escalade by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 140,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Escalade during the 2nd quarter worth $1,720,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

About Escalade

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.