WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $235.91.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WEX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research lowered WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of WEX from $275.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th.

WEX Stock Performance

Shares of WEX opened at $173.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $199.64 and a 200 day moving average of $193.52. The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.55. WEX has a 12 month low of $161.95 and a 12 month high of $244.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.03 million. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX will post 13.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEX news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ann Elena Drew sold 1,182 shares of WEX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $204,166.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $964,524.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,341 shares of company stock valued at $605,704. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in WEX by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 258,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,374,000 after buying an additional 30,306 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEX by 229.7% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in WEX by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 914,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $173,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,182 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in WEX by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,572,000 after acquiring an additional 22,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in WEX by 60.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,981 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,684,000 after purchasing an additional 16,860 shares during the period. 97.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEX Company Profile

WEX Inc operates a commerce platform in the United States and internationally. The Mobility segment offers fleet vehicle payment solutions, transaction processing, and information management services; and provides account activation and account retention services; authorization and billing inquiries, and account maintenance services; account management; credit and collections services; merchant services; analytics solutions; and ancillary services and offerings.