IEX heads into earnings on April 29 with options traders leaning sharply bullish. The put/call ratio has fallen to 0.52, well below its 20-day average and more than 1.5 standard deviations off the mean. Call volume is running at twice the pace of puts, a notable shift from earlier in the month when the ratio sat closer to 1.3. Short interest has eased slightly over the past week, down to 2.9% of the float from 3.0% a month ago. Borrow costs remain negligible at 0.44%, and utilisation sits at just 0.35% — nowhere near the 8% peak hit over the past year. The stock has climbed 6% over the past month to close at $204.74, though it gave back nearly 1% on Friday and is down modestly on the week.
The Street sees upside from here. The mean price target sits at $223, roughly 9% above current levels. Stifel trimmed its target to $241 from $244 in mid-April while holding a Buy rating — a modest haircut but still conviction in the name. BMO initiated coverage in late March at Market Perform with a $214 target, effectively neutral on the setup. Post the February print, several firms lifted targets into the $240–$250 range after the company beat and guided for 1.5%–2% core sales growth in 2026. Bulls point to strong order momentum in datacenters, municipal water, and semiconductor MRO; bears worry about mixed organic sales trends across the three segments and limited financial flexibility with debt at 2.0× EBITDA. Valuation sits at 24× trailing earnings, up slightly from a month ago, and the stock ranks in the 87th percentile for forward EPS growth. The dividend score ranks near the top of the universe.
PRIMECAP added nearly 1.5 million shares in January, lifting its stake to 4.3%. Vanguard, Wellington, and BlackRock remain the largest holders, collectively controlling over a quarter of shares outstanding. Insider activity has been minimal; net buying over the past 90 days totals just 333 shares worth $69,000. After the last earnings call in early February, the stock jumped 5.6% the next day and held most of the gain over the following week. Peers have lagged — GGG fell 6% on the week, IR dropped 2%, while ALSN bucked the trend with a 5% gain.
The print will test whether order growth translates into revenue acceleration or whether the mixed volume signals across segments force another round of estimate cuts.
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