Two Sigma Investments LP Cuts Stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Two Sigma Investments LP trimmed its position in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 51.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,971 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 172,364 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.21% of IDEX worth $33,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Texas Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $283,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 275.5% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 4,243 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of IDEX by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 7,070 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in IDEX during the fourth quarter worth about $10,644,000. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of IEX traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $179.56. The company had a trading volume of 421,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,161. IDEX Co. has a 1-year low of $153.36 and a 1-year high of $238.22. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $176.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.13. The stock has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $814.30 million during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on IEX. Citigroup decreased their price target on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on IDEX in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.50.

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.