WEX’s (WEX) Equal Weight Rating Reaffirmed at Barclays

Barclays restated their equal weight rating on shares of WEX (NYSE:WEX) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $200.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $207.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.64.

WEX Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of WEX stock opened at $173.79 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $188.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.48. WEX has a 52-week low of $165.51 and a 52-week high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEX will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEX

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 672.7% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,305,000 after buying an additional 134,099 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of WEX by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,772,000 after acquiring an additional 126,663 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $326,237,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in WEX by 328.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WEX by 82.2% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 79,252 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WEX

WEX Inc operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Mobility segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services; and provides account activation and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; account management; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions; and ancillary services and offerings.