IDEX (NYSE:IEX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) had its price target lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $244.00 to $256.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

IEX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus downgraded shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on IDEX from $251.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on IDEX from $248.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.14.

IDEX Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of IEX opened at $223.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.96. IDEX has a 52 week low of $189.51 and a 52 week high of $246.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $220.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that IDEX will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in IDEX by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in IDEX during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in IDEX by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in IDEX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in IDEX by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About IDEX

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.