Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Edward Williams Sells 30,315 Shares of Stock

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Edward Williams sold 30,315 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.98, for a total transaction of $636,008.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 132,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,773,283.26. This represents a 18.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Escalade Trading Up 0.8%

Escalade stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $20.82. 41,489 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,303. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.71. The company has a market cap of $286.69 million, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58. Escalade, Incorporated has a one year low of $11.41 and a one year high of $23.07.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $57.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.60 million. Escalade had a return on equity of 13.11% and a net margin of 9.46%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Escalade Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a $0.1525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Escalade

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESCA. De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Escalade in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,204,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Escalade during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,851,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Escalade during the 2nd quarter valued at about $156,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Escalade during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,720,000. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. purchased a new position in Escalade in the second quarter worth about $1,136,000. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

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.