Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Reaches New 12-Month High at $107.40

Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $107.40 and last traded at $107.25, with a volume of 11600 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FELE. StockNews.com cut Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 14th. Northcoast Research raised Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.79.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.47 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is presently 24.33%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total value of $1,036,185.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 228.7% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.