Insider Selling: Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Sells $49,809.27 in Stock

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Edward Williams sold 2,373 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.99, for a total value of $49,809.27. Following the transaction, the director owned 129,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,717,197.48. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Escalade Price Performance

Escalade stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $20.82. The company had a trading volume of 41,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,303. Escalade, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $11.41 and a 12-month high of $23.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.71. The firm has a market cap of $286.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last issued 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. Escalade had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 13.11%. The firm had revenue of $57.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.60 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given 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 is presently 36.53%.

Institutional Trading of Escalade

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter valued at about $9,851,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Escalade in the second quarter worth about $1,720,000. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Escalade in the second quarter worth about $1,204,000. Northstar Group Inc. bought a new stake in Escalade during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,136,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Escalade during the 1st quarter worth approximately $311,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESCA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

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.