WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $183.30.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEX shares. Weiss Ratings raised WEX from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on WEX from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut WEX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Evercore upgraded WEX to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on WEX from $180.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 12th.

WEX Price Performance

Shares of WEX stock opened at $193.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.06. WEX has a twelve month low of $125.29 and a twelve month high of $203.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

WEX (NYSE:WEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $5.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.08 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $753.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $740.72 million. WEX had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 43.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.95 earnings per share. WEX has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.650 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 19.680-20.080 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that WEX will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEX announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 14th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 21.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other WEX news, CEO Melissa Smith sold 28,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Robert Deshaies sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.40, for a total transaction of $296,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 20,288 shares in the company, valued at $3,010,739.20. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,767 shares of company stock worth $6,832,266 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in WEX by 110.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 29,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,230,000 after purchasing an additional 15,733 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of WEX during the second quarter worth $3,953,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of WEX by 13,928.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,361,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $756,522,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323,763 shares during the last quarter. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter valued at $437,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of WEX in the second quarter valued at $190,000. 97.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WEX

WEX Inc is a global financial technology company specializing in business payment solutions for fleet, travel, and corporate payments. The company delivers software-driven platforms and card-based services that help businesses automate payment processes, manage expenses and improve operational efficiency across a range of industries, including transportation, healthcare and government.

Founded in 1983 as Wright Express in Portland, Maine, the company began by offering fuel card services to trucking fleets.