New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,943 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in ESCO Technologies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,854,595 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $209,641,000 after acquiring an additional 47,047 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $187,838,000 after purchasing an additional 91,085 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,343,532 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $93,942,000 after purchasing an additional 21,496 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,011,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $105,596,000 after buying an additional 26,040 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in ESCO Technologies by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 996,526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,185,000 after buying an additional 8,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

ESCO Technologies Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ESE opened at $97.26 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $102.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.00. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.77 and a fifty-two week high of $118.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02 and a beta of 1.15.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $218.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.44 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 9.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 8.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESCO Technologies news, Director Leon J. Olivier sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.26, for a total value of $90,234.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESE. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. Sidoti downgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th.

ESCO Technologies Profile

ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Test & Measurement. 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.