Stephen Wawrin Sells 3,177 Shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Stock

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 3,177 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.40, for a total value of $67,987.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $963,000. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Escalade Stock Performance

ESCA stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.24. 57,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,399. Escalade, Incorporated has a one year low of $11.41 and a one year high of $23.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.24 million, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.45.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.60 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Escalade Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.1525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Escalade

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Escalade by 2.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 221,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 4,455 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Escalade during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Escalade by 439.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Escalade by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Escalade by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESCA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered Escalade from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Escalade from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.