Analysts Set IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Target Price at $241.14

Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $241.14.

Several analysts have recently commented on IEX shares. Argus cut shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDEX

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of IDEX by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 223,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,047,000 after purchasing an additional 7,222 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 247.0% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 198,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,872,000 after acquiring an additional 141,064 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX during the second quarter valued at $3,627,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of IDEX by 241.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,166,000 after acquiring an additional 26,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in IDEX by 90.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 69,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,077,000 after purchasing an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IEX stock opened at $228.51 on Tuesday. IDEX has a 52-week low of $189.33 and a 52-week high of $246.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $209.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.96.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IDEX will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.72%.

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.