Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,360,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of IDEX by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of IDEX by 145.0% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 20,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after purchasing an additional 12,013 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of IDEX by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 8,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of IDEX by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 305,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,884,000 after buying an additional 62,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of IDEX in the 4th quarter valued at $242,000. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IEX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $175.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.25.

IDEX Stock Performance

NYSE IEX opened at $190.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $153.36 and a 52-week high of $238.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $176.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.06. The firm has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $814.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.25 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 16.08% and a net margin of 15.45%. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. IDEX’s payout ratio is presently 43.74%.

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.