Argus Lowers IDEX (NYSE:IEX) to Hold

Argus downgraded shares of IDEX (NYSE:IEX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on IDEX from $256.00 to $241.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of IDEX from $250.00 to $236.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $265.00 to $236.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $235.33.

IDEX Price Performance

IEX stock opened at $196.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $200.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.31. IDEX has a 52-week low of $183.76 and a 52-week high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $807.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $828.15 million. IDEX had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 16.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. Analysts predict that IDEX will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th were issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.32%.

Institutional Trading of IDEX

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of IDEX during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in IDEX during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of IDEX by 38.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.