ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $187.50.

ESE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded ESCO Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. CJS Securities raised shares of ESCO Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ESCO Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Key Stories Impacting ESCO Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting ESCO Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and strong margins — ESCO reported adjusted EPS of $1.64 vs. street $1.31 and showed a healthy net margin (~25.8%) and ROE (~12.2%), signaling solid profitability. MarketBeat Earnings Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Raised FY 2026 EPS guidance — Management set FY 2026 EPS at $7.90–$8.15, above the consensus of $7.69, improving forward earnings visibility. GlobeNewswire Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Raised Q2 guidance — Q2 EPS guide of $1.75–$1.85 tops the $1.69 consensus, suggesting continued near-term momentum. GlobeNewswire Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Top-line and backlog strength — Q1 sales rose 35% to $290M and entered orders jumped ~143% to $557M, supporting future revenue visibility and the higher guidance. GlobeNewswire Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue guidance largely in line with consensus — management’s revenue outlook (about $1.3B) essentially matches expectations, so upside is mainly from margin/earnings rather than top-line surprise. GlobeNewswire Press Release

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESCO Technologies news, CFO Christopher L. Tucker sold 5,000 shares of ESCO Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total transaction of $1,100,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,638.15. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vinod M. Khilnani sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total value of $653,970.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,461,819.32. This trade represents a 12.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,699 shares of company stock worth $4,778,734. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ESCO Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESE. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in ESCO Technologies by 97,963,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,938,911 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $574,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,938,908 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 345.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 707,244 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $135,699,000 after purchasing an additional 548,600 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $93,728,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in ESCO Technologies by 1,204.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 432,050 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $91,210,000 after purchasing an additional 398,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ESCO Technologies by 92.5% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 311,910 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $65,847,000 after purchasing an additional 149,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

ESCO Technologies Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE ESE opened at $238.15 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $210.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. ESCO Technologies has a 12-month low of $130.15 and a 12-month high of $241.38. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62 and a beta of 1.22.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.32. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 25.76%.The company had revenue of $289.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. ESCO Technologies has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.900-8.15 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 2.77%.

About ESCO Technologies

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.