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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FELE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northcoast Research raised shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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 price-to-earnings 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 current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.79.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 9.36%. The firm had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Franklin Electric’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 228.7% during the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.