Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 68,509 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 68,509 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FELE. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 55.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 130.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 16.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the third quarter worth $74,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $110.40 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.71. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.65 and a 52 week high of $111.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $531.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $150,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,187.04. The trade was a 14.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Franklin Electric from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

About Franklin Electric

Franklin Electric Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes water and fuel pumping systems worldwide. The company operates through Water Systems, Fueling Systems, and Distribution segments. The Water Systems segment offers submersible motors, drives, pumps, electronic controls, water treatment systems, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment.