Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Position in WEX Inc. $WEX

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 387.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,845 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in WEX were worth $4,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in WEX by 377.9% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,592,000 after purchasing an additional 13,755 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the 4th quarter valued at $28,129,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 29,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,351,000 after purchasing an additional 9,410 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of WEX by 2,115.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 14,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in WEX by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 638,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $95,209,000 after buying an additional 6,971 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WEX shares. Loop Capital initiated coverage on WEX in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on WEX from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of WEX from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.40, for a total value of $296,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 20,288 shares in the company, valued at $3,010,739.20. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James R. Groch purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $142.95 per share, for a total transaction of $214,425.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 17,957 shares in the company, valued at $2,566,953.15. This trade represents a 9.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX stock opened at $164.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $143.56 and a 200 day moving average of $152.19. WEX Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.29 and a 1 year high of $186.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.85.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $673.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $660.96 million. WEX had a return on equity of 42.66% and a net margin of 11.50%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.51 EPS. WEX has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.950-19.550 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.930-5.130 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 16.81 earnings per share for the current year.

WEX declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 14th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 21.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About WEX

WEX Inc is a global financial technology company specializing in business payment solutions for fleet, travel, and corporate payments. The company delivers software-driven platforms and card-based services that help businesses automate payment processes, manage expenses and improve operational efficiency across a range of industries, including transportation, healthcare and government.

Founded in 1983 as Wright Express in Portland, Maine, the company began by offering fuel card services to trucking fleets.