ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE Stake Lessened by Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,052 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $25,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 9.7% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.7% in the third quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,675 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 366 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

ESCO Technologies Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE ESE opened at $330.07 on Wednesday. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.92 and a 1-year high of $346.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.88.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.01. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 24.69% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $309.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. ESCO Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 anticipate that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ESCO Technologies Company 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.