Harvey Investment Co. LLC Buys 21,608 Shares of IDEX Corporation $IEX

Harvey Investment Co. LLC boosted its stake in IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,608 shares during the quarter. IDEX comprises approximately 1.9% of Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Harvey Investment Co. LLC’s holdings in IDEX were worth $17,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IEX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in IDEX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $156,009,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of IDEX by 1,232.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 487,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,182,000 after purchasing an additional 450,704 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in IDEX by 142.2% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 652,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,588,000 after purchasing an additional 383,221 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its stake in IDEX by 132.8% during the second quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 640,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,504,000 after purchasing an additional 365,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in IDEX by 635.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 264,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,437,000 after purchasing an additional 228,525 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the company’s stock.

IDEX Trading Up 0.6%

IEX opened at $179.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.44. IDEX Corporation has a one year low of $153.36 and a one year high of $226.04. The stock has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.00.

IDEX (NYSE:IEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 16th. The industrial products company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $712.00 million for the quarter. IDEX had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.97%. On average, equities analysts forecast that IDEX Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

IDEX declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

IDEX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. IDEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on IEX. Oppenheimer set a $210.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on IDEX from $197.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on IDEX from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on IDEX from $204.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of IDEX in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.86.

IDEX Profile

IDEX Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer specializing in the design, production and distribution of highly engineered fluidics systems, measurement technologies and safety solutions. The company’s core offerings include positive-displacement pumps, flow meters, valves, sampling systems and analytical instruments that serve a wide range of end markets such as water treatment, chemical processing, energy, food and beverage, and life sciences. Through its focus on precision engineering and proprietary material science, IDEX delivers products designed for reliability in demanding applications.

Operations at IDEX are organized into three principal segments.