Wall Street Zen Upgrades WEX (NYSE:WEX) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded WEX from “hold” to “buy.” Across analysts, the consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $191.10.
• WEX beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $6.13 versus $5.68 expected and revenue of $780.1 million versus $749.7 million expected. Revenue rose 12.8% year over year.
• Company insiders sold 37,325 shares worth about $7.1 million over the past three months; the reported COO sales were made under pre-arranged trading plans.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WEX. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of WEX from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on WEX from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Evercore raised shares of WEX to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $209.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.10.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEX opened at $182.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.93. WEX has a 1 year low of $125.29 and a 1 year high of $203.99.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $6.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $780.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $749.74 million. WEX had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 45.74%. WEX's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.59 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that WEX will post 18.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert Deshaies sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.56, for a total transaction of $347,120.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 17,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,000,505.28. The trade was a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Joel Dearborn, Jr. sold 3,343 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $668,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 17,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,200. This trade represents a 16.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 37,325 shares of company stock worth $7,067,912 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEX in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEX in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP acquired a new position in shares of WEX in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of WEX by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 267 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company's stock.

WEX Company Profile

WEX Inc NYSE: WEX is a financial technology company that provides payment-processing and business-management solutions. Its products are designed to help organizations manage corporate spending, employee benefits and mobility-related expenses through specialized payment accounts, software and data tools.

WEX's mobility business serves commercial vehicle fleets with fuel cards, fleet-payment programs, expense controls, telematics integrations and related solutions. The company also supports emerging mobility needs, including electric-vehicle charging payments.

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