IDEX (NYSE:IEX) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $218.65, but opened at $208.16. IDEX shares last traded at $201.07, with a volume of 20,507 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on IEX. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on IDEX from $256.00 to $245.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their target price on IDEX from $269.00 to $267.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of IDEX from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IDEX has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.00.

IDEX Trading Down 1.8 %

The firm's 50 day moving average is $216.28 and its 200 day moving average is $211.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.97.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.37 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. IDEX's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.50%.

Institutional Trading of IDEX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in IDEX by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group increased its position in shares of IDEX by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 2,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in IDEX by 178.3% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 254,842 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,336,000 after buying an additional 163,283 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in IDEX by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,106 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,533,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in IDEX by 28,356.0% during the 4th quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 23,903 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,003,000 after acquiring an additional 23,819 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company's stock.

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.