WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $239.58.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WEX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of WEX to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $102,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,449,320. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $204,166.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,584 shares in the company, valued at $964,524.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $102,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,449,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,826 shares of company stock worth $693,369 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the fourth quarter worth $89,745,000. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in WEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,750,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in WEX by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,122,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $607,482,000 after purchasing an additional 179,813 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in WEX by 2,524.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 163,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,876,000 after purchasing an additional 157,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 495,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,772,000 after buying an additional 126,663 shares during the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE WEX opened at $179.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. WEX has a 52 week low of $161.95 and a 52 week high of $244.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $177.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.73. The company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.09. WEX had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $673.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.44 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that WEX will post 13.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.