Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ESCA. Zacks Research raised Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Stock Down 3.8%

ESCA opened at $18.16 on Tuesday. Escalade has a fifty-two week low of $11.41 and a fifty-two week high of $19.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 4.28. The company has a market capitalization of $248.79 million, a P/E ratio of 18.34 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.15 and a 200-day moving average of $14.05.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.07. Escalade had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 5.70%.The company had revenue of $62.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.55 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Escalade will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Escalade in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Escalade by 439.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Escalade in the third quarter valued at about $141,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Escalade by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Escalade by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 3,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

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.