Atria Investments Inc Invests $267,000 in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE)

Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,003 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESE. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of ESCO Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,412,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,054,039 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $135,950,000 after buying an additional 49,577 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 340.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,413 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,728,000 after buying an additional 34,340 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 438,536 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $56,563,000 after buying an additional 13,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 39,013 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,032,000 after buying an additional 12,461 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.70% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered ESCO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on ESCO Technologies from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

ESCO Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:ESE traded down $2.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $158.92. 365,121 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 118,631. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $97.11 and a 52-week high of $171.28. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $149.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.31 and a beta of 1.11.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.34. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 10.44%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. ESCO Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.