Champlain Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,030,172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 233,210 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 3.99% of ESCO Technologies worth $137,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 3,479 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in ESCO Technologies by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in ESCO Technologies by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 571 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 6,779 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of ESCO Technologies from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

ESCO Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ESCO Technologies stock opened at $150.44 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.94 and its 200 day moving average is $143.06. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $97.11 and a one year high of $171.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 1.07.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.34. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 9.91%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.51%.

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.