Fmr LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Fmr LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 49.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Merchants Corp purchased a new position in Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,054,000. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $9,158,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 387,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,571,000 after purchasing an additional 63,436 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 328.4% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 64,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,206,000 after purchasing an additional 49,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 2.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,030,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,810,000 after buying an additional 40,248 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at $905,187.04. This trade represents a 14.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Franklin Electric Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of FELE opened at $103.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.59. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.45 and a 52-week high of $111.94.

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

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

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.