Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Position in ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 75,813 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 11,163 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $21,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 97,963,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,938,911 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $574,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,938,908 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in ESCO Technologies by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,050,093 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $205,178,000 after purchasing an additional 158,949 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in ESCO Technologies by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 902,956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $176,429,000 after purchasing an additional 458,980 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in ESCO Technologies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 633,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $123,861,000 after purchasing an additional 20,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in 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 worth $91,210,000 after purchasing an additional 398,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of ESCO Technologies in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on ESCO Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ESCO Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.00.

ESCO Technologies Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of ESE stock opened at $317.76 on Friday. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.92 and a twelve month high of $362.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $317.08 and a 200 day moving average of $284.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $309.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.88 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 24.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

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