Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Takes Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 29,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,175,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDEX in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 97.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IDEX Stock Up 1.6 %

IEX stock traded up $3.21 on Wednesday, hitting $198.45. 386,814 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,970. IDEX Co. has a 12-month low of $183.76 and a 12-month high of $246.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $209.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.95.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About IDEX

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.