IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) Shares Purchased by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 28.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,223,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 273,460 shares during the quarter. IDEX makes up 1.6% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in IDEX were worth $262,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in IDEX by 9,424.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $211,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,439 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 75.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 519,124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,179,000 after buying an additional 223,422 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $39,872,000 after buying an additional 141,064 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of IDEX by 1,541.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,915,000 after buying an additional 130,292 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in IDEX by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 742,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $159,314,000 after acquiring an additional 103,432 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IEX stock opened at $232.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.96. IDEX Co. has a 52 week low of $189.51 and a 52 week high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.01. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $798.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IEX. Argus cut IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IDEX currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.14.

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.