Yahoo Finance IDEX (IEX) Rallies 10.4% in 3 Months: What's Driving It?
Shares of IDEX Corporation IEX have rallied 10.4% in the past three months, outperforming its industry’s rise of 2%.
Let’s look into the factors driving this presently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) player.
What’s Aiding IEX?
IDEX is gaining from strength in its water and agricultural end markets. An improvement in the energy market is benefiting its Fluid & Metering Technologies segment. Robust business in the semiconductor, food and pharma, analytical instrumentation and life sciences markets is aiding its Health & Science Technologies segment. Growth in orders and backlog along with IDEX’s effective pricing actions is anticipated to drive its performance in the quarters ahead.
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IDEX has been strengthening and expanding its businesses through asset additions for a while. Its buyout of KZValve (May 2022) solidified fluid-management solutions in its Banjo Corporation business. The Nexsight, LLC acquisition and its WinCan, Envirosight, MyTana and Pipeline Renewal Technologies businesses (March 2022) drove IEX’s position in the intelligent water technologies market. Also, its purchase of Airtech Group, US Valve Corporation and other entities aided IEX’s Health & Science Technology segment.
IDEX remains committed to maximizing its shareholder returns, leveraging a strong balance sheet and cash flows. IDEX paid out dividends worth $86.9 million and repurchased shares worth $110.4 million during the first six months of 2022. Its board also announced an 11% hike in its quarterly dividend rate in May 2022.
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked companies from the Industrial Products sector are discussed below:
Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. AIT presently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 22.8%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks.
AIT’s earnings estimates have increased 6.7% for fiscal 2023 (ending June 2023) in the past 60 days. Its shares have risen 21.2% in the past three months.
Eaton Corporation plc ETN presently has a Zacks Rank of 2. ETN’s earnings surprise in the last four quarters was 1.4%, on average.
In the past 60 days, Eaton’s earnings estimates have increased 1.1% for 2022. The stock has rallied 3.3% in the past three months.
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Eaton Corporation, PLC (ETN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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IDEX Corporation (IEX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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