Zacks Research Upgrades WEX (NYSE:WEX) to Strong-Buy

by · The Cerbat Gem

WEX (NYSE:WEX – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WEX. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of WEX from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of WEX from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WEX from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of WEX in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.10.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WEX

WEX Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WEX opened at $180.17 on Tuesday. WEX has a 1 year low of $125.29 and a 1 year high of $203.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average is $184.99 and its 200-day moving average is $164.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.93.

WEX (NYSE:WEX – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $6.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $780.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $749.74 million. WEX had a return on equity of 45.74% and a net margin of 14.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that WEX will post 18.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert Deshaies sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.56, for a total transaction of $347,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,505.28. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Melissa Smith sold 28,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.09, for a total value of $5,343,239.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,625 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,146.25. The trade was a 18.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 33,452 shares of company stock worth $6,358,960 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEX. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEX in the third quarter worth approximately $335,000. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the third quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of WEX by 7.8% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 9,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of WEX during the third quarter valued at approximately $831,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in WEX during the third quarter worth $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.47% of the company’s stock.

About WEX

(Get Free Report)

WEX Inc (NYSE:WEX) is a financial technology company that provides payment-processing and business-management solutions. Its products are designed to help organizations manage corporate spending, employee benefits and mobility-related expenses through specialized payment accounts, software and data tools.

WEX’s mobility business serves commercial vehicle fleets with fuel cards, fleet-payment programs, expense controls, telematics integrations and related solutions. The company also supports emerging mobility needs, including electric-vehicle charging payments.

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