Aigen Investment Management LP Takes Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in shares of IDEX by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,190,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $475,632,000 after purchasing an additional 84,502 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in IDEX by 3.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,143,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $237,890,000 after buying an additional 36,928 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of IDEX in the fourth quarter worth $237,425,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of IDEX by 6.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $163,445,000 after acquiring an additional 45,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of IDEX by 420.8% during the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 781,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $169,600,000 after acquiring an additional 631,172 shares during the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IDEX Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE IEX opened at $217.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $231.15 and a 200-day moving average of $220.06. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $183.76 and a 52-week high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $801.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.52 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 17.89%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that IDEX Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. IDEX’s payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IEX. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of IDEX from $254.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on IDEX from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on IDEX from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.71.

IDEX Company 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.