Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Increases Stock Position in ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP increased its position in ESCO Technologies Inc. by 82.1%, owning approximately $6.59 million worth of shares at the end of the first quarter.
• ESCO Technologies has received mixed reviews from analysts, with Benchmark raising their price target to $200, while Wall Street Zen downgraded their rating from "buy" to "hold".
• Despite reporting lower than expected earnings of $1.60 per share, ESCO Technologies' revenue increased by 13.6% year-over-year, and it has also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE - Free Report) by 82.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 18,666 shares during the period. ESCO Technologies comprises 1.6% of Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned approximately 0.16% of ESCO Technologies worth $6,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 1.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,221 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,617 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,848,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 674 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ESE shares. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ESCO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ESCO Technologies has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $187.50.

ESCO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESE traded up $2.36 on Wednesday, reaching $197.12. 48,015 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,448. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.38 and a 200-day moving average of $174.24. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.30 and a twelve month high of $201.72. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.40 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $296.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $320.23 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 10.37%.The business's revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. ESCO Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.750-5.900 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.040-2.190 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. ESCO Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 7.21%.

ESCO Technologies Company 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.