WEX (NYSE:WEX) Downgraded to "Neutral" Rating by Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of WEX (NYSE:WEX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $190.00 price objective on the business services provider's stock, down from their prior price objective of $260.00.

WEX has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on WEX from $247.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut WEX from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.55.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEX traded up $2.23 on Tuesday, reaching $177.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 543,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,696. WEX has a 52-week low of $165.51 and a 52-week high of $244.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.58. The stock's 50-day moving average is $178.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other WEX news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEX. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in WEX during the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,425 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,847,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEX by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,370 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,922,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in WEX by 34.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $87,772,000 after acquiring an additional 126,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in WEX by 8.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,292 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.47% of the company's stock.

WEX Company Profile

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.