Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Buys 1,793 Shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,793 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $3,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 44.6% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,322 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 3,801 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in ESCO Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 73,927 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,661,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in ESCO Technologies by 10.7% in the second quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 615,451 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $63,779,000 after buying an additional 59,676 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in ESCO Technologies by 1.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,578 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ESCO Technologies by 2.0% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 10,964 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on ESCO Technologies in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

ESCO Technologies Price Performance

ESCO Technologies stock opened at $104.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70 and a beta of 1.10. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $109.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $102.58 and its 200-day moving average is $100.74.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $272.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.32 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 9.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 4th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 3rd. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.07%.

ESCO Technologies Profile

ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Shielding and Test segments. 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.