IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $196.8571.

IEX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of IDEX in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of IDEX in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of IDEX from $204.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Oppenheimer set a $210.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

IDEX Price Performance

NYSE IEX opened at $173.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $168.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.68. IDEX has a fifty-two week low of $153.36 and a fifty-two week high of $230.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.06.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.97%.The business had revenue of $712.00 million for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that IDEX will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.94%.

IDEX announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IDEX by 257.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of IDEX in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in IDEX during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in IDEX by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of IDEX in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

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.