Blue Trust Inc. Has $78,000 Stake in IDEX Corporation $IEX

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) by 21.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in IDEX were worth $78,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in IDEX by 257.5% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in IDEX during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in IDEX during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in IDEX during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in IDEX by 42.9% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IDEX stock opened at $166.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. IDEX Corporation has a twelve month low of $153.36 and a twelve month high of $238.22. The stock has a market cap of $12.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.57 and its 200 day moving average is $172.15.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter. IDEX had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $712.00 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is 45.88%.

IDEX announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IEX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $180.00 price objective on shares of IDEX and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of IDEX from $238.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of IDEX from $208.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of IDEX in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of IDEX from $207.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.43.

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.