IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 9,424.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,032,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,021,439 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.36% of IDEX worth $211,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in IDEX during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in IDEX by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in IDEX by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in IDEX during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of IEX traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $216.05. The company had a trading volume of 725,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,368. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $16.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.96. IDEX Co. has a 12-month low of $189.33 and a 12-month high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $798.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.05 million. IDEX had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on IEX shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IDEX has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.14.

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.