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

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $241.14.

A number of analysts have issued reports on IEX shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus cut IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

IDEX Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE IEX opened at $230.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.96. 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 has a 12-month low of $189.51 and a 12-month high of $246.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $217.22 and a 200 day moving average of $208.23.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that IDEX will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IDEX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in IDEX by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX during the third quarter worth about $39,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of IDEX in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 38.4% in the second 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, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in IDEX by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

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.