IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Short Interest Up 20.6% in May

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,520,000 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the April 30th total of 1,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 683,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

IDEX Trading Down 0.4%

IDEX stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $180.20. 683,323 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 579,254. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.90. IDEX has a 52 week low of $153.36 and a 52 week high of $238.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.06. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $814.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. IDEX's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that IDEX will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from IDEX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. IDEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective 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. Mizuho set a $185.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new position in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in IDEX by 63.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in IDEX in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors 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.