Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ESCA. Weiss Ratings raised Escalade from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 9th. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. began coverage on Escalade in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Escalade from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:ESCA traded up $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $21.03. 22,386 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,285. Escalade has a 1 year low of $12.25 and a 1 year high of $23.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.43. The company has a market cap of $289.31 million, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.54.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $65.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.48 million. Escalade had a net margin of 10.03% and a return on equity of 13.48%. On average, research analysts forecast that Escalade will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Escalade

In other news, Director Richard Baalmann, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $42,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 95,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,011,674. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 33.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Escalade

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESCA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Escalade in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,720,000. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter worth approximately $1,204,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter worth approximately $9,851,000. Northstar Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Escalade by 13.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

About Escalade

Escalade, Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes sporting goods and recreational products. Its offerings include basketball systems, archery equipment, table tennis products, darts and billiards equipment. The company sells products under brands including Goalrilla, Goaliath, Bear Archery, Trophy Ridge, STIGA and American Heritage Billiards. Its products serve both recreational and competitive sports markets. Based in Evansville, Indiana, Escalade serves customers in the United States and international markets through retail, e-commerce and other distribution channels.