WEX (NYSE:WEX) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,020,331 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 145% from the previous session’s volume of 416,638 shares.The stock last traded at $155.22 and had previously closed at $155.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEX shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on WEX from $215.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on WEX from $200.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on WEX from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of WEX in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEX has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.73.

WEX Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $165.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.61.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.16. WEX had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 11.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEX Inc. will post 14.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEX

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of WEX by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 3,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of WEX by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WEX by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEX by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.