Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,628 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.45% of Franklin Electric worth $19,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FELE. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 55.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 29.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on 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 Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of FELE opened at $103.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.29 and its 200 day moving average is $101.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.22. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.67 and a fifty-two week high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The firm had revenue of $485.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $465.87 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.53%.

Franklin Electric 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.