IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $241.71.

Several equities research analysts have commented on IEX shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

IDEX Stock Down 8.0 %

NYSE:IEX opened at $168.63 on Friday. IDEX has a 1-year low of $168.44 and a 1-year high of $242.09. The company has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $193.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.01. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. On average, equities analysts predict that IDEX will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in IDEX by 108.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,830,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $607,234,000 after buying an additional 1,472,456 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter worth $217,658,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in IDEX by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,666,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $767,421,000 after acquiring an additional 277,964 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in IDEX by 133.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 406,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,105,000 after acquiring an additional 232,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in IDEX by 237.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 256,769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,740,000 after acquiring an additional 180,601 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.