Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research lowered shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Escalade from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Escalade presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Escalade Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of ESCA stock opened at $18.65 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.81 million, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.52. Escalade has a fifty-two week low of $11.41 and a fifty-two week high of $23.07.

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

Escalade Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Escalade’s payout ratio is 36.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.27, for a total transaction of $111,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 97,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,177,872.38. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Edward Williams sold 30,315 shares of Escalade stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.98, for a total value of $636,008.70. Following the sale, the director owned 132,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,773,283.26. This represents a 18.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,227 shares of company stock valued at $872,743 in the last three months. Insiders own 33.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in Escalade during the second quarter worth approximately $1,204,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Escalade in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,851,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Escalade in the second quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Escalade in the second quarter worth $1,720,000. Finally, Northstar Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Escalade during the 2nd quarter worth $1,136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

About Escalade

Escalade, Incorporated is a sporting goods company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. The company designs, manufactures and distributes products for recreational and competitive sports, serving consumers, schools, commercial venues and other organizations.

Its product portfolio includes table tennis equipment, pickleball paddles and accessories, dartboards and darting equipment, basketball goals, game tables, indoor and outdoor recreation products, and related sporting goods. Escalade markets products under several brands, including STIGA for table tennis and ONIX for pickleball, along with additional brands serving the darting, basketball and game-room categories.

The company sells its products through sporting goods retailers, specialty dealers, mass merchants, e-commerce channels and institutional customers.