Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

ESCA has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Escalade presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ ESCA opened at $17.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $240.44 million, a P/E ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 0.70. Escalade has a fifty-two week low of $11.41 and a fifty-two week high of $18.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 4.28.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.07. Escalade had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 5.70%.The company had revenue of $62.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.55 million. On average, analysts forecast that Escalade will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Escalade

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Escalade in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey purchased a new position in Escalade in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Escalade by 439.0% in the second 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. Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Escalade during the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Escalade by 7.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

About Escalade

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.