ESCO Technologies (ESE) Competitors

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) and ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, community ranking, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Is WWD or ESE more profitable?

Woodward has a net margin of 11.09% compared to Woodward's net margin of 9.94%. ESCO Technologies' return on equity of 16.50% beat Woodward's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Woodward	11.09%	16.50%	8.67%
ESCO Technologies	9.94%	8.83%	5.79%

Which has more volatility & risk, WWD or ESE?

Woodward has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ESCO Technologies has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in WWD or ESE?

81.2% of Woodward shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.7% of ESCO Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Woodward shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of ESCO Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is WWD or ESE a better dividend stock?

Woodward pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. ESCO Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Woodward pays out 17.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ESCO Technologies pays out 8.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Woodward has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Woodward is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer WWD or ESE?

Woodward presently has a consensus price target of $173.13, indicating a potential downside of 6.72%. ESCO Technologies has a consensus price target of $120.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.56%. Given Woodward's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ESCO Technologies is more favorable than Woodward.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Woodward	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
ESCO Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has better earnings & valuation, WWD or ESE?

Woodward has higher revenue and earnings than ESCO Technologies. ESCO Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Woodward, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Woodward	$3.20B	3.53	$232.37M	$5.72	32.39
ESCO Technologies	$956.03M	2.92	$92.54M	$3.81	28.45

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WWD or ESE?

ESCO Technologies received 57 more outperform votes than Woodward when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.63% of users gave Woodward an outperform vote while only 58.56% of users gave ESCO Technologies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Woodward	Outperform Votes 350 58.63%	Underperform Votes 247 41.37%
ESCO Technologies	Outperform Votes 407 58.56%	Underperform Votes 288 41.44%

Does the media prefer WWD or ESE?

In the previous week, Woodward had 13 more articles in the media than ESCO Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Woodward and 2 mentions for ESCO Technologies. Woodward's average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat ESCO Technologies' score of 0.47 indicating that ESCO Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Woodward	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
ESCO Technologies	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Woodward beats ESCO Technologies on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.