WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Short Interest Up 87.5% in March

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, a growth of 87.5% from the February 28th total of 1,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 733,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in WEX during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of WEX during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in WEX by 552.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 261 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WEX opened at $154.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61. WEX has a 52-week low of $146.03 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $162.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 32.35%. On average, research analysts anticipate that WEX will post 14.09 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEX. Barclays reduced their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.80.

About WEX

WEX Inc operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Mobility segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services; and provides account activation and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; account management; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions; and ancillary services and offerings.