CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Increases Holdings in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Free Report) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,003 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 10,330 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.10% of IDEX worth $15,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in IDEX by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 30,250 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in IDEX by 129.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 417 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Covea Finance lifted its holdings in IDEX by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Covea Finance now owns 14,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of IDEX by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,177,645 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $252,603,000 after acquiring an additional 14,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of IDEX by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Performance

IEX traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $173.05. The stock had a trading volume of 602,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 564,801. IDEX Co. has a twelve month low of $153.36 and a twelve month high of $238.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $179.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.67.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.01. IDEX had a net margin of 15.45% and a return on equity of 16.08%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on IEX. Mizuho set a $175.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson cut their target price on IDEX from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of IDEX from $256.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IDEX presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.13.

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.