IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $212.50.

IEX has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $185.00 price target on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price target on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

IDEX Stock Performance

IDEX stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $181.09. 42,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 623,947. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The business's 50-day moving average is $176.73 and its 200-day moving average is $198.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07. IDEX has a 12-month low of $153.36 and a 12-month high of $238.22.

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

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a boost from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. IDEX's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDEX

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of IDEX by 81.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new position in shares of IDEX during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 63.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in IDEX in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company's stock.

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.