Short Interest in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Rises By 163.1%

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,130,000 shares, an increase of 163.1% from the March 15th total of 1,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 973,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 13.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WEX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup downgraded WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered shares of WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in WEX by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEX by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in WEX by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEX by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in WEX by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:WEX traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $123.25. 534,049 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 543,658. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.29. WEX has a one year low of $110.45 and a one year high of $235.65. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.33.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 32.35%. Equities analysts predict that WEX will post 14.09 earnings per share for the current year.

WEX Company Profile

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.