WEX (NYSE:WEX) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $160.10 and last traded at $164.25, with a volume of 71855 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $186.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WEX shares. Bank of America downgraded WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of WEX in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEX presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.58.

WEX Stock Up 0.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $178.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.99.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 14.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total value of $33,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,334.08. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEX. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in WEX during the 4th quarter worth $28,689,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its position in WEX by 672.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 154,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,305,000 after acquiring an additional 134,099 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in WEX by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,555,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $326,237,000 after acquiring an additional 125,262 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of WEX by 328.6% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 127,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 97,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEX by 82.2% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 79,252 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.