Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ESCA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Escalade has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Price Performance

Shares of ESCA opened at $13.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 3.30. Escalade has a fifty-two week low of $11.41 and a fifty-two week high of $16.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.75. The company has a market capitalization of $189.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.69.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Escalade had a return on equity of 7.49% and a net margin of 5.26%.The company had revenue of $67.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.83 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Escalade will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Escalade

In other news, Director Richard Fenton Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total transaction of $71,370.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 100,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,305,122. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total transaction of $26,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,000. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,000 shares of company stock worth $156,100 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 28.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Escalade

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Escalade by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Escalade by 11.7% during the third quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 19,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Escalade by 120.1% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 27,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 15,231 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Escalade by 2.5% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Minerva Advisors LLC grew its stake in Escalade by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 550,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 12,378 shares during the period. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.