Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Has $36.85 Million Position in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) by 82.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 79,252 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEX were worth $36,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in WEX by 856.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after buying an additional 11,899 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in WEX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $327,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in WEX in the second quarter worth $94,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in WEX by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 8,466 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in WEX by 37.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of WEX stock opened at $189.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.57. WEX Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.51 and a 1-year high of $244.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.82 by $0.53. WEX had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 31.35%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $688.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WEX Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEX

In other news, CFO Jagtar Narula sold 508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,000. The trade was a 6.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of WEX from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on WEX from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on WEX from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of WEX from $238.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on WEX from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEX has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

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.