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IDEX (IEX) Announces 8% Hike in Quarterly Dividend Rate

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IDEX Corporation (IEX - Free Report) , on May 12, announced that it is rewarding shareholders with hike in the quarterly dividend rate. We believe that such shareholder-friendly policies of the company reflect a strong cash position.

Inside the Headlines

As revealed, IDEX’s board of directors approved an 8% or 4 cents per share hike in the quarterly dividend rate, which now moved from 50 cents to 54 cents. On an annualized basis, the dividend increased to $2.16 from $2.00 per share.

IDEX will pay out the revised dividend on May 28, 2021, to shareholders on record as of May 24.

Sound Shareholder-Friendly Policies

IDEX firmly believes in rewarding shareholders handsomely through dividend payments. The company’s cash dividend paid out increased from $1.34 per share in 2016 to $2.00 in 2020. In May 2019, it had raised the quarterly dividend rate by 16%. Further, the company paid out a dividend of $38.2 million to its shareholders in the first quarter of 2021.

We believe that the impressive cash position is likely to aid IDEX to continue rewarding shareholders in the quarters ahead. In first-quarter 2021, its net cash from operating activities grew 29% year over year to $109.3 million, while its free cash flow expanded 31.6% to $94.7 million. Also, its cash and cash equivalents were at $958.1 million at the end of the first quarter. The company expects free cash flow of 115-120% of net income in 2021.

For 2021, the company anticipates adjusted earnings per share of $6.05-$6.20, and the same for the second quarter is predicted to be $1.60-$1.63.

In the past three months, the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s share price has increased 9.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 9.9%.

Other Key Picks

Some other top-ranked stocks from the same space are Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (AIT - Free Report) , Dover Corporation (DOV - Free Report) and Barnes Group, Inc. (B - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Applied Industrial Technologies delivered a positive earnings surprise of 30.33%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

Dover delivered a positive earnings surprise of 21.35%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

Barnes delivered a positive earnings surprise of 19.45%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

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