WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $217.73.

Several brokerages have weighed in on WEX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research cut WEX from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered WEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Transactions at WEX

In other news, COO Robert Joseph Deshaies sold 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.44, for a total transaction of $33,152.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,582 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,334.08. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commerce Bank raised its stake in WEX by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 3,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in WEX by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in WEX by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in WEX by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in WEX by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

WEX Stock Performance

WEX stock opened at $151.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. WEX has a 12-month low of $149.29 and a 12-month high of $244.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.58.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 31.35% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts anticipate that WEX will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About WEX

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.