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

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $241.14.

A number of analysts recently commented on IEX shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IDEX stock opened at $229.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.96. 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 has a 52 week low of $189.51 and a 52 week high of $246.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $209.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.37.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that IDEX will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. IDEX’s payout ratio is 42.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDEX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of IDEX by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in IDEX in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in IDEX by 100.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in IDEX during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 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.