ESCO Technologies Inc. (ESE) – What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $381.50.

ESE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of ESCO Technologies from $420.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $413.00 price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

ESCO Technologies Trading Up 2.0%

ESCO Technologies stock opened at $230.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.06. ESCO Technologies has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $362.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.08. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 24.39% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $339.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESCO Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in ESCO Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,433,229,000. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in ESCO Technologies by 65.7% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 477,687 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $167,210,000 after purchasing an additional 189,433 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in ESCO Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $61,365,000. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in ESCO Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,439,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.1% in the first 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 buying an additional 4,527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

About ESCO Technologies

ESCO Technologies Inc is a diversified technology company that develops and manufactures specialized products and systems for the aerospace, defense, space, utility, telecommunications and other industrial markets. Its offerings are designed for applications involving electromagnetic compatibility, radio-frequency testing, filtration, fluid control, power transmission and infrastructure monitoring.

Through its aerospace and defense businesses, ESCO provides test systems, antennas, telemetry equipment, RF shielding and environmental testing products used to evaluate aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, defense systems and other complex electronic equipment.