Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 12,900 ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 12,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,510,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,265 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in ESCO Technologies by 19.6% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 24,387 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ESCO Technologies by 54.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,675 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 4,820 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 74,783 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,229,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 22,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sidoti cut shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com cut ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 17th.

ESCO Technologies Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of ESCO Technologies stock opened at $100.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $101.89 and its 200 day moving average is $103.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.31. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $89.77 and a one year high of $118.60.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $218.30 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.