Trexquant Investment LP Makes New $1.44 Million Investment in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 14,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,435,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,769,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $464,796,000 after buying an additional 45,174 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,004,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $105,264,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 811,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,098,000 after buying an additional 143,917 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $56,968,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,093,000 after buying an additional 10,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total transaction of $99,117.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,701 shares in the company, valued at $794,281.14. The trade was a 11.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of FELE opened at $90.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.69 and a 1 year high of $111.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $98.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.09.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.92%. The business had revenue of $485.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $465.87 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 27.53%.

Franklin Electric 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.