Champlain Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX) by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,223,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 273,460 shares during the quarter. IDEX makes up about 1.6% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 1.62% of IDEX worth $262,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in IDEX by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IDEX in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of IDEX by 100.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of IDEX during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in IDEX by 38.4% in the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of IEX opened at $232.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $215.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.96. IDEX Co. has a twelve month low of $189.51 and a twelve month high of $246.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.96.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $798.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $793.05 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 15.35%. IDEX’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. IDEX’s payout ratio is 42.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus downgraded IDEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of IDEX from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of IDEX from $245.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of IDEX from $236.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of IDEX from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.14.

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.