IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Short Interest Update

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, an increase of 69.5% from the September 15th total of 778,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 562,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on IEX shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of IDEX from $250.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of IDEX from $256.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IDEX currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.29.

Institutional Trading of IDEX

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IEX. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of IDEX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in IDEX during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of IDEX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in IDEX by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 100.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE IEX traded up $3.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $211.49. 342,021 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,304. IDEX has a 1-year low of $183.76 and a 1-year high of $246.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.52. The stock has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.52.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $807.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $828.15 million. IDEX had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 16.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that IDEX will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is 36.13%.

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.