Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Wall Street Zen reports.

FELE has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price target on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.50.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE opened at $100.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.19. Franklin Electric has a 1 year low of $89.54 and a 1 year high of $115.82.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $698,173,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $82,970,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,805,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,230,000. Finally, Medina Value Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $25,122,549. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Electric

Franklin Electric Co, Inc (NASDAQ: FELE) designs, manufactures and distributes systems and components used to move, manage and control water and other fluids. The company serves residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through products such as submersible pumps, motors, pumping systems, drives, controls, monitoring equipment and water-treatment solutions.

Its Water Systems business provides equipment for groundwater and surface-water applications, including well pumps, pressure systems, wastewater and dewatering products, and related controls and accessories.