Short Interest in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) Decreases By 6.5%

ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 240,700 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the December 15th total of 257,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 83,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESCO Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ESCO Technologies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,854,595 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $209,641,000 after acquiring an additional 47,047 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 3.4% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,747,370 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $187,838,000 after purchasing an additional 91,085 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 1.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,343,532 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $93,942,000 after purchasing an additional 21,496 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 996,526 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,185,000 after purchasing an additional 8,246 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 858,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,063,000 after purchasing an additional 35,391 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of ESCO Technologies from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 21st.

ESCO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ESE opened at $94.29 on Wednesday. ESCO Technologies has a 1 year low of $60.03 and a 1 year high of $96.69. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $90.93 and a 200-day moving average of $83.60.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.06. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 8.13%. The company had revenue of $256.50 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 5th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 4th. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.13%.

About ESCO Technologies

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ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Shielding and Test segments. 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.