The Company The Registrant is ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE), sometimes referred to in this report as ESCO. Except where the context indicates otherwise, the terms Company , we , our and us are used in this report to refer to ESCO together with its subsidiaries through which its businesses are conducted.
$318.52
$3.80 (-1.18%)
EOD Jul 17, 2026
15.55% operating margin is respectable but not wide. ROIC at 8.33%. Suggests the business covers its cost of capital, but doesn't point to a wide moat.
Revenue grew 19.2%, still solid.
At 27x earnings, the current multiple leaves limited room for execution misses or growth deceleration.
26.8x earnings, 36.8x FCF. Not cheap, the quality is already reflected in the price. Upside from here requires either margin expansion or growth re-acceleration, not just continuation.
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$1.25B
▲ +19.2% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$308M
▲ +193.7% YoY
Op. Margin
15.23%
▼ -0.4pp YoY
ROIC
8.24%
▼ -0.4pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$224M
▲ +107.1% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$259M
▲ +89.7% YoY
Net Debt
$120M
Cash & Equiv.
$92M
5Y CAGR: +8.4%
5Y CAGR: +32.6%
Continue Research
At a P/E of 26.8 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 36.8, Esco Technologies (ESE) trades around a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $393.40 per share, so at $318.52 the stock looks around fair value (23.5% below estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Esco Technologies scores 69/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a solid business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 0.1%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $393.40 per share for ESE, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $295.05. At today's $318.52, that puts the stock about 23.5% below estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Esco Technologies scores 69 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a solid business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 15.2% operating margin and a 8.2% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Yes, Esco Technologies pays a regular dividend of about $0.32 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 0.1% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 2.7% of earnings, so the dividend is amply covered by earnings. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For ESE's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. ESE currently trades around its estimated intrinsic value and scores 69/100 on quality (solid). It also yields about 0.1%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.