Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Buys 1,793 Shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,793 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned 0.11% of ESCO Technologies worth $3,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,093,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ESCO Technologies by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,384 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $196,292,000 after purchasing an additional 122,558 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in ESCO Technologies by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,747,370 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $187,838,000 after purchasing an additional 91,085 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in ESCO Technologies by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 615,451 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $63,779,000 after purchasing an additional 59,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in ESCO Technologies by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 266,865 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,472,000 after purchasing an additional 52,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ESE shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on ESCO Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

ESCO Technologies Trading Up 1.3 %

ESE stock opened at $104.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.70 and a beta of 1.10. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $109.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $102.58 and a 200-day moving average of $100.74.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $272.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.32 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 9.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 4th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 9.07%.

ESCO Technologies Profile

ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Shielding and Test segments. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial aerospace applications; filter mechanisms used in micro-propulsion devices for satellites; and custom designed filters for manned aircraft and submarines.