Comerica Bank Sells 1,091 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Comerica Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,091 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $1,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $127,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 513,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,079,000 after buying an additional 50,750 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,993 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 11,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 6,701 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its position in Franklin Electric by 137.9% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 23,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 13,801 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FELE. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ FELE opened at $86.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.22. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.87 and a fifty-two week high of $111.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.53.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company had revenue of $455.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total value of $99,117.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $794,281.14. This represents a 11.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

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.