Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Escalade from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Escalade Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESCA opened at $18.77 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.46 million, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.52. Escalade has a 1 year low of $11.41 and a 1 year high of $23.07.

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

Escalade Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1525 per share. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Escalade news, Director Richard Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.27, for a total value of $111,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 97,794 shares in the company, valued at $2,177,872.38. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 3,177 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $963,000. This trade represents a 6.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,227 shares of company stock valued at $872,743 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 33.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Escalade in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,204,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Escalade in the second quarter valued at about $9,851,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Escalade in the second quarter valued at about $156,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Escalade during the second quarter worth about $1,720,000. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. purchased a new position in Escalade during the second quarter worth about $1,136,000. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Escalade

Escalade, Incorporated is a sporting goods company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. The company designs, manufactures and distributes products for recreational and competitive sports, serving consumers, schools, commercial venues and other organizations.

Its product portfolio includes table tennis equipment, pickleball paddles and accessories, dartboards and darting equipment, basketball goals, game tables, indoor and outdoor recreation products, and related sporting goods. Escalade markets products under several brands, including STIGA for table tennis and ONIX for pickleball, along with additional brands serving the darting, basketball and game-room categories.

The company sells its products through sporting goods retailers, specialty dealers, mass merchants, e-commerce channels and institutional customers.