Brokerages Set ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) Price Target at $187.50

ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $187.50.

ESE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a)” rating on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ESCO Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, CJS Securities raised ESCO Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th.

ESCO Technologies Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ESCO Technologies stock opened at $198.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 1.22. ESCO Technologies has a twelve month low of $127.17 and a twelve month high of $229.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.02.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.19. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 25.76% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $286.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. ESCO Technologies’s revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. ESCO Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.350 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.800 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that ESCO Technologies will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 2.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESCO Technologies

In related news, Director Robert J. Phillippy sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.53, for a total transaction of $823,361.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,450,673.07. This represents a 36.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bryan H. Sayler sold 401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $88,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,254 shares in the company, valued at $4,455,880. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 21,699 shares of company stock valued at $4,778,734 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESE. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 345.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 707,244 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $135,699,000 after buying an additional 548,600 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $93,728,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 1,204.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 432,050 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $91,210,000 after purchasing an additional 398,926 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $33,784,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $30,882,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

ESCO Technologies Company Profile

ESCO Technologies Inc is a diversified manufacturer of engineered products and systems designed to meet customers’ critical performance requirements in the test, measurement, control, and filtration of data, fluids, and gases. The company serves a wide range of end markets, including commercial aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and communication network sectors. ESCO’s solutions are tailored to environments where reliability, precision and regulatory compliance are paramount.

Operating through multiple business segments, ESCO Technologies delivers test and measurement instruments such as RF and microwave components, signal distribution systems, and integrated test enclosures that support defense and aerospace programs.