The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in IDEX were worth $9,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of IDEX by 3.3% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 223,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,047,000 after purchasing an additional 7,222 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of IDEX by 247.0% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 198,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,872,000 after purchasing an additional 141,064 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of IDEX in the second quarter worth $3,627,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of IDEX by 241.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,166,000 after purchasing an additional 26,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of IDEX by 90.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 69,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,077,000 after purchasing an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Price Performance

IEX stock opened at $211.10 on Friday. IDEX Co. has a 52 week low of $183.76 and a 52 week high of $246.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.95.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.02. IDEX had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 16.87%. The business had revenue of $807.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $828.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. IDEX’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IEX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of IDEX from $256.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of IDEX from $250.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of IDEX from $265.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Argus cut shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.50.

IDEX Profile

IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries.