Natixis Advisors L.P. Sells 17,480 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lessened its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,480 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.14% of Franklin Electric worth $6,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Franklin Electric by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 39,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Franklin Electric by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 28,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FELE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.8 %

FELE stock opened at $102.07 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $82.61 and a 52 week high of $107.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.29 and a 200 day moving average of $96.39.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.04). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $460.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $477.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.27 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 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 24.88%.

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.