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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Franklin Electric Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.79.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $472.97 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.33%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Electric

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Natixis grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 6.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

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.