Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stock Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in IDEX were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of IDEX by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 100.0% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of IDEX in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in IDEX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on IEX. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

IDEX Price Performance

IEX opened at $196.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. IDEX Co. has a 12-month low of $189.51 and a 12-month high of $246.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $215.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.95.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 EPS 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%. Equities analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. IDEX’s payout ratio is 41.50%.

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.