Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 370,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,742 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in IDEX were worth $80,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in IDEX by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,393,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of IDEX by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 36,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,875,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of IDEX by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 8,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in IDEX during the fourth quarter valued at about $659,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in IDEX by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 197,319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,840,000 after purchasing an additional 12,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Performance

IEX stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $215.15. The stock had a trading volume of 493,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,066. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 3.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.37. The stock has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. IDEX Co. has a 52-week low of $183.76 and a 52-week high of $246.36.

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

IDEX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from IDEX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IEX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of IDEX from $254.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on IDEX from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised IDEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of IDEX in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IDEX presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.71.

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.