WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX) recently announced its partnership with Octet — a Sydney-based supply chain technology provider and financier.
Octet’s platform enables tracking, validation and authorization of each step of the supply chain. It mainly serves Australian small- and medium-sized businesses.
Through the partnership, WEX will allow Octet’s customers to use virtual credit cards to pay their suppliers. Benefits include improved cash flows, no currency conversion fee for international transactions and the facility to pay suppliers in their preferred currency with a secure 16-digit virtual credit number.
The news follows WEX’s announcement to snap up Go Fuel Card, the fuel card business of fuel station and convenience store retailer — EG Card. Go Fuel Card also serves small and medium enterprises along with larger fleet players.
WEX Inc. Revenue (TTM)
Our Take
Partnerships are a key growth catalyst, which enabled WEX to significantly enhance offerings and expand business.
We believe that the partnership with Octet will enable WEX to enhance its position in the commercial payments space. This will pave way for increased customer acquisition, especially small- and medium-sized businesses.
Shares of WEX have rallied 40.7% year to date compared with the 23.9% rise of the industry it belongs to.
Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks
Currently, WEX has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) , Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) and Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) , each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for Copart, Booz Allen and Automatic Data Processing is 20%, 14.6% and 13%, respectively.
Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?
Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%.
WEX Inc. (WEX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Copart, Inc. (CPRT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP): Free Stock Analysis Report
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (BAH): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post
Zacks Investment Research