GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 26,868.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 164,974 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.22% of IDEX worth $299,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 152.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Berry Wealth Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 1,542 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in IDEX by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 232,014 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $48,558,000 after buying an additional 8,550 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter worth about $890,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company's stock.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of IEX stock traded down $0.37 on Wednesday, reaching $181.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 121,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,691. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $176.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.01. IDEX Co. has a 12-month low of $153.36 and a 12-month high of $238.22. The company has a market capitalization of $13.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.06.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $814.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $807.25 million. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. IDEX's payout ratio is 45.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IEX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.50.

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.