Citigroup Inc. Grows Stake in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in IDEX Corporation by 64.4%, holding approximately 0.11% of IDEX valued at $14.4 million after acquiring over 31,000 additional shares in Q1.
• Recent analyst reports show a range of target price changes for IDEX, with Citigroup raising its target from $208 to $216, while Stifel Nicolaus reduced theirs from $238 to $204.
• IDEX Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.7% for shareholders, with a payout ratio of 45.88%.

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 64.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,816 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 31,256 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.11% of IDEX worth $14,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $35,375,000. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of IDEX by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,127 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,910,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its position in shares of IDEX by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of IDEX by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 20,246 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 8,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company's stock.

IDEX Stock Down 1.4%

IEX stock traded down $2.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $164.79. The stock had a trading volume of 579,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,780. IDEX Corporation has a one year low of $153.36 and a one year high of $238.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company's 50 day moving average is $175.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.01. The company has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.04.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.07. IDEX had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business had revenue of $865.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $858.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. IDEX's payout ratio is presently 45.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IEX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of IDEX from $208.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of IDEX from $224.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $180.00 target price on shares of IDEX and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho set a $185.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of IDEX from $238.00 to $204.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, IDEX currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IDEX news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total value of $45,222.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,035 shares in the company, valued at $910,781.15. The trade was a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.