IDEX Corporation IEX is well poised for growth, courtesy of strength across its businesses, solid product portfolio, acquired assets and a sound capital-deployment strategy.Let’s delve deeper to unearth the factors that might make investing in this currently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) player a smart choice now.Business Strength: IDEX benefits from its presence in diverse end markets, which allows it to offset risks associated with a single market. In the quarters ahead, strength in its end markets like water and agricultural, and an improvement in the energy markets will likely benefit the Fluid & Metering Technologies segment. Robust business in the semiconductor, food and pharma, analytical instrumentation and life sciences markets will be beneficial to the Health & Science Technologies segment. Growth in orders and backlog along with IEX’s effective pricing actions is expected to drive its performance in the quarters ahead. For 2022, IEX anticipates generating organic sales growth of approximately 10% from the year-ago reported figure.Benefits From Acquisitions: IDEX’s acquisition of KZValve (May 2022) has boosted fluid management solutions in its Banjo Corporation business. The buyout of Nexsight, LLC and its WinCan, Envirosight, MyTana and Pipeline Renewal Technologies businesses (March 2022) has strengthened its position in the intelligent water technologies market for a while now. Also, its buyout of Airtech Group, US Valve Corporation and other entities strengthened its Health & Science Technology segment. IEX anticipates buyout synergies to boost sales % for the third quarter and 4% for 2022.Shareholder-Friendly Activities: IDEX’s measures to reward its shareholders through dividend payments and share buybacks are encouraging. During the first six months of 2022, IEX paid out dividends worth $86.9 million and repurchased shares worth $110.4 million. It also announced a hike of 11% in its quarterly dividend rate during May 2022.Northbound Estimate Revision: In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has been revised 2.7% upward.IDEX Corporation Price and Consensus IDEX Corporation price-consensus-chart | IDEX Corporation QuoteZacks Rank & Other Stocks to ConsiderSome other top-ranked companies from the industrial products sector are discussed below:Greif, Inc. GEF presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). GEF delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 22.9%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks.GEF’s earnings estimates have increased 0.4% for fiscal 2022 (ending October 2022) in the past 60 days. Its shares have risen 20.2% in the past six months.Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. AIT presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. AIT delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 22.8%, on average.AIT’s earnings estimates have increased 5.8% for fiscal 2023 (ending June 2023) in the past 60 days. Its shares have rallied 18.4% in the past six months.Valmont Industries, Inc. VMI presently has a Zacks Rank of 2. VMI’s earnings surprise in the last four quarters was 13.7%, on average.In the past 60 days, Valmont’s earnings estimates have increased 3.8% for 2022. The stock has rallied 32.6% in the past six months. Want to Know the #1 Semiconductor Stock for 2022? Few people know how promising the semiconductor market is. Over the last couple of years, disruptions to the supply chain have caused shortages in several industries. The absence of one single semiconductor can stop all operations in certain industries. This year, companies that create and produce this essential material will have incredible pricing power. For a limited time, Zacks is revealing the top semiconductor stock for 2022. You'll find it in our new Special Report, One Semiconductor Stock Stands to Gain the Most. Today, it's yours free with no obligation.>>Give me access to my free special report.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI): Free Stock Analysis Report Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (AIT): Free Stock Analysis Report IDEX Corporation (IEX): Free Stock Analysis Report Greif, Inc. (GEF): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research