Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 14,088 Shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in IDEX were worth $22,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in IDEX by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in IDEX in the second quarter worth $41,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in IDEX by 38.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in IDEX by 100.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 97.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IDEX Price Performance

Shares of IDEX stock opened at $230.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. IDEX Co. has a 12-month low of $189.51 and a 12-month high of $246.36.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.01. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $798.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. IDEX’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that IDEX Co. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on IEX. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $238.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of IDEX from $232.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.14.

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.