Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Stock Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) shares crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.65 and traded as high as $19.20. Escalade shares last traded at $18.32, with a volume of 40,299 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ESCA. Zacks Research cut Escalade from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Escalade from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Escalade currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Escalade Trading Down 2.7%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.57. The company has a market capitalization of $253.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.59.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.14. Escalade had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 6.43%.The business had revenue of $55.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.80 million. Equities research analysts predict that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.1525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Escalade

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESCA. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Escalade by 439.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Escalade by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Escalade by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Escalade by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 12,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. 65.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.