Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Sells $111,350.00 in Stock

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) Director Richard Fenton Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.27, for a total value of $111,350.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 97,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,177,872.38. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Escalade Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ ESCA traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.45. 36,279 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,405. Escalade, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $11.41 and a 1 year high of $23.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.51.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 13.11% and a net margin of 9.46%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.08 EPS for the current year.

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.53%.

Institutional Trading of Escalade

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Escalade during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Escalade in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $156,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Escalade by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Escalade by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 12,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. 65.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Escalade from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Escalade from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Escalade presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate 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.