Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $100.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FELE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 14th. 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 report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of FELE stock opened at $101.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Franklin Electric has a twelve month low of $82.61 and a twelve month high of $107.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $101.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.16.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $472.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is currently 24.33%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,902,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $656,193,000 after acquiring an additional 42,603 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,720,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $456,276,000 after purchasing an additional 64,487 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,699,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $220,606,000 after purchasing an additional 20,764 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 0.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,975,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,974,000 after purchasing an additional 13,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,167,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,802,000 after purchasing an additional 14,944 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.