Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 67,013 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,798 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $13,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESE. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,683 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,399 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $228,000. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 82,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $13,127,000 after purchasing an additional 13,648 shares during the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESE. Wall Street Zen downgraded ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ESCO Technologies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.00.

ESCO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ESE stock opened at $291.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $301.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.98. The stock has a market cap of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.12. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 1 year low of $174.92 and a 1 year high of $346.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.45.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last issued 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 the consensus estimate 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%.ESCO Technologies’s revenue was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 2.69%.

About ESCO Technologies

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.