Vest Financial LLC Invests $2.99 Million in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 31,821 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,000. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.07% of Franklin Electric as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 189.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $127,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FELE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In related news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.70, for a total transaction of $2,167,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 74,402 shares in the company, valued at $6,450,653.40. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908 over the last three months. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of FELE stock opened at $86.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.52 and a 200-day moving average of $96.27. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a one year low of $78.87 and a one year high of $111.94. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.92%. The firm had revenue of $455.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $471.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

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.