Edward Williams Sells 30,315 Shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Stock

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Edward Williams sold 30,315 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.98, for a total transaction of $636,008.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 132,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,773,283.26. The trade was a 18.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Escalade Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:ESCA traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.82. 41,489 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,303. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.71. The company has a market cap of $286.69 million, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58. Escalade, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $11.41 and a 12-month high of $23.07.

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

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.1525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Escalade presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Institutional Trading of Escalade

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Escalade in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,851,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Escalade in the second quarter worth $1,720,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Escalade in the second quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Escalade by 13.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. 65.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.