Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Position in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,669 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.22% of ESCO Technologies worth $5,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,895,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $309,955,000 after acquiring an additional 15,801 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in ESCO Technologies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,372,850 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $144,204,000 after purchasing an additional 16,152 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 6.1% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,215,101 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $130,077,000 after purchasing an additional 69,500 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 0.3% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,029,065 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $108,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 18.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 283,266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,754,000 after purchasing an additional 43,907 shares during the period. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

ESCO Technologies Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ESCO Technologies stock opened at $124.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.70 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.29. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.59 and a 1 year high of $127.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $260.78 million for the quarter. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities research analysts predict that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 8.40%.

ESCO Technologies Company Profile

ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Test & Measurement. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial aerospace applications; filter mechanisms used in micro-propulsion devices for satellites; and custom designed filters for manned aircraft and submarines.