Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in IDEX were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in IDEX during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE IEX opened at $222.13 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $219.51 and its 200 day moving average is $211.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 2.11. IDEX Co. has a 1 year low of $189.51 and a 1 year high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. IDEX’s payout ratio is 42.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on IEX. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on IDEX from $248.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, IDEX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.86.

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.