Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Position in ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 560.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,243 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,570 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $6,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in ESCO Technologies by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,821 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 4,406 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,619,000 after buying an additional 3,674 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 149,233 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $41,990,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. Finally, Freemont Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,911,000. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ESE. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on ESCO Technologies in a report on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.00.

ESCO Technologies Stock Performance

ESE stock opened at $312.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.17. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.92 and a 52 week high of $362.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.01. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 24.69% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $309.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. The company’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. Research analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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.