IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $242.86.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IEX shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of IDEX from $248.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IEX traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $215.67. 476,263 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 467,803. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $220.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.43. The company has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.97. IDEX has a 52-week low of $189.51 and a 52-week high of $246.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $793.05 million. IDEX had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that IDEX will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. IDEX's dividend payout ratio is 42.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDEX

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of IDEX by 44.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,848 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 3,012 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in IDEX by 3.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 25,294 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,089,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in IDEX by 20.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 470,672 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,698,000 after buying an additional 78,551 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,272,000. Finally, Argent Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the 2nd quarter valued at $294,000. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.