Royce & Associates LP Sells 148,812 Shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 403,286 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 148,812 shares during the quarter. ESCO Technologies makes up 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.56% of ESCO Technologies worth $64,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,907,533 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $387,312,000 after purchasing an additional 32,306 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 152.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 380,104 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,634,000 after purchasing an additional 229,601 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 297,264 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,599,000 after purchasing an additional 19,465 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 240,952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 184,376 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $24,561,000 after purchasing an additional 24,023 shares in the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Benchmark lifted their target price on ESCO Technologies from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

ESCO Technologies Stock Down 0.2%

ESCO Technologies stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $188.88. The stock had a trading volume of 11,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,673. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.05. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.70 and a fifty-two week high of $198.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 41.44 and a beta of 1.21.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.10. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 11.01%. The firm had revenue of $265.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.02%.

ESCO Technologies 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.