Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Makes New Investment in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new position in IDEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in IDEX by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in IDEX by 63.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in IDEX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in IDEX by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Stock Performance

IEX stock opened at $174.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.06. IDEX Corporation has a 12-month low of $153.36 and a 12-month high of $238.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.61.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $814.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.25 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.51% and a net margin of 14.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.01%.

Insider Activity at IDEX

In related news, CFO Akhil Mahendra sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.89, for a total value of $45,222.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,035 shares in the company, valued at $910,781.15. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IEX shares. Citigroup cut their target price on IDEX from $264.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $185.00 target price on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $215.00 target price on IDEX in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on IDEX from $206.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on IDEX from $192.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IDEX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.50.

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.