ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $381.50

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating on ESCO Technologies, with three buys, one strong buy and one hold. Their average 12-month price target is $381.50, though JPMorgan recently lowered its target to $350.
• ESCO reported quarterly EPS of $2.20, beating estimates of $2.12; revenue rose 14.4% year over year to $339.03 million but came in below forecasts.
• The stock opened at $230.32, below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.7% of shares.

ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $381.50.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on ESCO Technologies from $420.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings cut ESCO Technologies from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $413.00 target price on shares of ESCO Technologies in a report on Monday, August 10th.

ESCO Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ESE opened at $230.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.94. ESCO Technologies has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $362.15. The company's fifty day moving average price is $257.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.62.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.08. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 24.39%. The firm had revenue of $339.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that ESCO Technologies will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESCO Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,862,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 126,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $33,638,000 after buying an additional 43,958 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 178.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 10,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,725,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 149,233 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $41,990,000 after buying an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies in the second quarter worth about $3,030,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.70% of the company's stock.

About ESCO Technologies

ESCO Technologies Inc is a diversified technology company that develops and manufactures specialized products and systems for the aerospace, defense, space, utility, telecommunications and other industrial markets. Its offerings are designed for applications involving electromagnetic compatibility, radio-frequency testing, filtration, fluid control, power transmission and infrastructure monitoring.

Through its aerospace and defense businesses, ESCO provides test systems, antennas, telemetry equipment, RF shielding and environmental testing products used to evaluate aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, defense systems and other complex electronic equipment.

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