Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,743 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $1,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Electric by 55.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 130.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 16.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $150,330.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at $905,187.04. This trade represents a 14.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Franklin Electric from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ FELE opened at $110.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.40. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a one year low of $87.65 and a one year high of $111.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $531.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

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.