US Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,288 Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

US Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 51.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Electric from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 154,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE traded up $0.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $102.07. The stock had a trading volume of 175,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 185,678. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.61 and a 12 month high of $107.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $102.29 and its 200 day moving average is $96.39.

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

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.88%.

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.