First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys Shares of 3,662 ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,662 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in ESCO Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies during the second quarter worth about $45,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 32.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 64.8% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ESE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of ESCO Technologies in a report on Saturday. Wall Street Zen cut ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $187.50.

ESCO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ESE stock opened at $221.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.32. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $125.45 and a one year high of $223.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 49.92 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.05). ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The company had revenue of $296.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. ESCO Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.750-5.900 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.040-2.190 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.21%.

About ESCO Technologies

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.