Wall Street Zen Upgrades Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) to “Strong-Buy”

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Escalade presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Price Performance

Escalade stock opened at $17.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.30 and its 200 day moving average is $13.61. Escalade has a one year low of $11.41 and a one year high of $18.61. The firm has a market cap of $239.89 million, a P/E ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 4.28 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

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

Institutional Trading of Escalade

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Escalade during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new position in Escalade during the second quarter worth $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Escalade by 439.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Escalade in the third quarter worth $141,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased 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. 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.