Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Shares Bought by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 51.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,997,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 18.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,679,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,271,000 after acquiring an additional 421,342 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 299.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 224,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,882,000 after acquiring an additional 168,128 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 68.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 369,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,015,000 after acquiring an additional 150,748 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 3,632.2% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 150,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,122,000 after acquiring an additional 146,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

Franklin Electric stock opened at $103.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.96. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.61 and a 1 year high of $107.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $101.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.38.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $472.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.47 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on FELE shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

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.