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

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $238.78.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IEX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of IDEX from $254.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

IDEX Price Performance

IEX opened at $226.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $236.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.88. IDEX has a 52-week low of $183.76 and a 52-week high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. IDEX had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $788.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that IDEX will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDEX

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in IDEX by 120.3% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its holdings in IDEX by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in IDEX during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of IDEX during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.