American Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 38,414 ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

American Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 38,414 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,809,000. American Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of ESCO Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in ESCO Technologies by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 4,406 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,619,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 149,233 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $41,990,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,171,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 103.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 902,956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $176,429,000 after acquiring an additional 458,980 shares during the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of ESCO Technologies in a report on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ESCO Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.00.

ESCO Technologies Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of ESE stock opened at $323.86 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $320.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.06. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.92 and a 12-month high of $362.15. The firm has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.09.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $309.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.88 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 24.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. ESCO Technologies has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.150 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-8.250 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.69%.

ESCO Technologies 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.