Stifel Nicolaus Boosts IDEX (NYSE:IEX) Price Target to $244.00

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $232.00 to $244.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.86% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on IEX. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on IDEX from $256.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on IDEX from $250.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, IDEX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.43.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IEX stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $212.43. 41,139 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 463,313. IDEX has a 12 month low of $183.76 and a 12 month high of $246.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $203.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.41.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $807.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $828.15 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 16.87% and a net margin of 18.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that IDEX will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDEX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,964,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,943,609,000 after acquiring an additional 555,250 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of IDEX by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 519,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,179,000 after purchasing an additional 223,422 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of IDEX by 151.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,767,000 after purchasing an additional 206,345 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in IDEX by 247.0% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 198,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,872,000 after buying an additional 141,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in IDEX by 1,541.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,915,000 after buying an additional 130,292 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.