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 dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.40, for a total value of $67,987.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $963,000. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Escalade Price Performance

NASDAQ:ESCA opened at $22.60 on Friday. Escalade, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $11.41 and a fifty-two week high of $23.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.11 million, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.54.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $57.70 million during 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Escalade Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Escalade

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESCA. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Escalade in the second quarter worth $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Escalade by 439.0% during 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 last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Escalade in the second quarter valued at $156,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position 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. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Escalade by 10.2% in 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 last quarter. 65.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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