Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Share Price Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.86 and traded as high as $99.03. Franklin Electric shares last traded at $98.88, with a volume of 287,110 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FELE. Zacks Research upgraded Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price objective on Franklin Electric in a report on Thursday, October 29th. DA Davidson upgraded Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut Franklin Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.84 and its 200 day moving average is $100.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $633.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.19 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 8.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FELE. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric during the second quarter valued at about $698,173,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 3.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,009,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,059,000 after buying an additional 36,268 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 25.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 881,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,225,000 after buying an additional 177,433 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 11.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 824,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,956,000 after acquiring an additional 81,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 81.4% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 481,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,417,000 after acquiring an additional 216,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

Franklin Electric is a global manufacturer of systems and components used to move water and fuel. Founded in 1944 and headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company serves residential, commercial, agricultural, municipal and industrial markets. Its water-related products include submersible motors and pumps, groundwater and wastewater systems, water treatment equipment, and controls and drives. Franklin Electric also supplies pumping and related equipment for applications such as pressure boosting, irrigation and dewatering.