WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Short Interest Up 46.3% in February

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,150,000 shares, a growth of 46.3% from the January 31st total of 786,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 462,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEX. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in WEX by 300.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 68,539 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,375,000 after buying an additional 51,423 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in WEX by 1,635.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,783 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 8,277 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in WEX by 289.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,528 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of WEX by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,825 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in WEX by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

WEX Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE WEX traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $154.12. 15,625 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 542,359. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.58. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.53 and its 200-day moving average is $183.04. WEX has a 12-month low of $146.03 and a 12-month high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. As a group, analysts anticipate that WEX will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered WEX from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $195.73.

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.