Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) shares grew almost 18% after the solid revenue growth announcement for the first quarter. JOUT shares gained more than 75% price appreciation in the past twelve months, up 103% in the last three years. The stock has the 52-week trading range of $31.25-$76.18.

Johnson Outdoors is a global manufacturer and marketer of branded seasonal, outdoor recreation products. The company’s strategy of introducing new products and investments in growth businesses is working.

The company generated revenue growth of 24% to $116.6 million in the first quarter, compared to sales of $93.7 million in the same period last year. Its new products, including Minn Kota and Humminbird brands, posted the revenue growth of 33%, while life-support products rose 17 percent year over year.

On the negative side, sales from camping business were flat year-over-year, due to tough market dynamics.

“We’re pleased by the strong start to the year, particularly pre-season performance in Fishing and Diving which highlight the importance of our ongoing focus on innovation that delivers bigger, better, new product success,” said Helen Johnson-Leipold, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer.

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The company has also been working on strategies to strengthen its balance sheet and cash position. Johnson Outdoors cash and short-term investments jumped to $78.3 million versus $38.9 million in the first quarter last year.

The company generated operating cash flow of $23 million in the first quarter, compared to capital spending of $6.5 million. Thus, the company was left with $16.5 million in free cash flows to pay the quarterly dividend payments of $989 million. Johnson Outdoors currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, yielding around 0.67%.

Although Johnson Outdoors stock rallied sharply in the past twelve months, its valuations are attractive when compared to the industry average. JOUT stock trades around 17 times to earnings and 2.5 times to book ratio, lower from the industry average of 29 times and 3.3 times, respectively.

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