UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Boosts Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,839 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $13,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FELE. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the first quarter worth about $968,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,751,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $507,489,000 after buying an additional 30,408 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its position in Franklin Electric by 17.6% during the first quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 7,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FELE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on Franklin Electric from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 4.3 %

Franklin Electric stock traded down $4.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.82. The stock had a trading volume of 297,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 178,098. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.27. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.61 and a twelve month high of $107.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $460.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $477.64 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 24.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 2,214 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.06, for a total value of $225,960.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,014 shares in the company, valued at $817,908.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 2,214 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.06, for a total value of $225,960.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,014 shares in the company, valued at $817,908.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 1,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $136,318.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,774,094. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.