IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $243.14.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IEX. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of IDEX from $248.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on IDEX from $251.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

IDEX Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of IEX opened at $212.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $221.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.32. The firm has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.96. IDEX has a 12-month low of $189.51 and a 12-month high of $246.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDEX

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in IDEX by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in IDEX by 31.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in IDEX by 19.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in IDEX by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position 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 period. 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.