Nordea Investment Management AB Decreases Stake in IDEX Corporation $IEX

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB has decreased its stake in IDEX Corporation by 5.8%, now holding approximately 1.07% of the company worth $141 million after selling nearly 50,000 shares in the second quarter.
• IDEX Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, with the dividend yield sitting at 1.7% and a payout ratio of 45.88%.
• The firm authorized a $1 billion share repurchase plan to buy up to 8.3% of its stock, signaling that the board believes the stock is undervalued.

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 805,188 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 49,832 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 1.07% of IDEX worth $141,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IEX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in IDEX by 19.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,050,601 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $914,007,000 after purchasing an additional 831,005 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in IDEX by 1,232.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 487,274 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,182,000 after purchasing an additional 450,704 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new position in IDEX during the first quarter worth about $49,815,000. Amundi raised its stake in IDEX by 23.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,249,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $220,849,000 after purchasing an additional 236,650 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in IDEX by 11.5% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,006,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $363,157,000 after purchasing an additional 207,172 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of IEX stock opened at $166.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 3.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.15. IDEX Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $153.36 and a fifty-two week high of $238.22.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $712.00 million during the quarter. IDEX had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 15.16%. Equities research analysts predict that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. IDEX's payout ratio is 45.88%.

IDEX declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on IEX shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of IDEX from $208.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of IDEX in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer set a $210.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of IDEX from $207.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.43.

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.

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