Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 67 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in IDEX were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in IDEX by 3.3% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 223,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,222 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of IDEX by 177.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 57,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,431,000 after purchasing an additional 36,606 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 241.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,166,000 after buying an additional 26,557 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 90.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 69,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,077,000 after buying an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in IDEX by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 370,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,505,000 after buying an additional 10,742 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Up 0.8 %

IEX opened at $199.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $200.32 and a 200-day moving average of $214.86. IDEX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.76 and a fifty-two week high of $246.36. The company has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.95.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.02. IDEX had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 16.87%. The firm had revenue of $807.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $828.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. IDEX’s payout ratio is 36.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on IEX shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of IDEX from $250.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on IDEX from $256.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of IDEX from $265.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.50.

IDEX Company Profile

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.