Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Has $28.67 Million Stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,789 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,324 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.53% of ESCO Technologies worth $28,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its stake in ESCO Technologies by 58.8% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 141,419 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,855,000 after acquiring an additional 52,379 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in ESCO Technologies by 72.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 43,307 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,310,000 after purchasing an additional 18,234 shares during the last quarter. F m Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 33,531 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,643 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,107 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,771,000. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESCO Technologies Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ESE opened at $264.03 on Friday. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.78 and a 52-week high of $291.31. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $247.92 and a 200-day moving average of $222.89.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $289.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $289.30 million. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 25.28%.ESCO Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. 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. On average, equities analysts predict that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESE. Zacks Research raised ESCO Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered ESCO Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded ESCO Technologies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, CJS Securities raised shares of ESCO Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.00.

ESCO Technologies Profile

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.