Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers WEX (NYSE:WEX) Price Target to $220.00

WEX (NYSE:WEX) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $247.00 to $220.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WEX. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.73.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX stock traded up $3.16 on Monday, hitting $180.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 37,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 191,204. WEX has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $244.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $178.70 and its 200-day moving average is $185.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.03 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that WEX will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value of $33,152.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in WEX in the third quarter worth $35,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEX during the third quarter valued at about $2,507,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in WEX by 112.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new stake in WEX in the third quarter worth about $251,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEX by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is 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.