ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,866 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.06% of ESCO Technologies worth $2,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 152.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 380,104 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,634,000 after purchasing an additional 229,601 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 18,682.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 107,247 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $17,065,000 after purchasing an additional 106,676 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $6,287,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in ESCO Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,688,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 297,264 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,599,000 after buying an additional 19,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESE. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Benchmark upped their price objective on ESCO Technologies from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

ESCO Technologies Stock Performance

ESCO Technologies stock opened at $187.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 42.25 and a beta of 1.23. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.30 and a 12 month high of $201.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $190.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.05). ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $296.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. ESCO Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 7.21%.

About ESCO Technologies

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.