Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 6,720 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 48.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,720 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in IDEX were worth $4,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in IDEX by 28.8% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,223,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,479,000 after purchasing an additional 273,460 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in IDEX by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 90,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,503,000 after acquiring an additional 17,662 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in IDEX by 27.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of IDEX by 45.7% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,442,000 after purchasing an additional 17,082 shares during the period. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on IEX shares. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.14.

IDEX Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE IEX opened at $231.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $216.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.07. IDEX Co. has a one year low of $189.51 and a one year high of $246.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.97. The company has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.96.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $798.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $793.05 million. IDEX had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.72%.

IDEX 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.