Cerity Partners LLC Makes New Investment in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,100,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in IDEX by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,208 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of IDEX by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 3,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of IDEX by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in IDEX by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in IDEX by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 8,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,053,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Performance

Shares of IEX stock opened at $228.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.99. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $195.27 and a 52-week high of $246.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The industrial products company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.07. IDEX had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The firm had revenue of $846.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $852.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. IDEX’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IDEX Co. will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 28th. Investors of record on Friday, July 14th were given a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 13th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. IDEX’s payout ratio is currently 33.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IEX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of IDEX from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of IDEX in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on IDEX from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of IDEX from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of IDEX in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.92.

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.