QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 772 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 168.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Franklin Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FELE. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 10,036 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.03, for a total transaction of $983,829.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $801,003.13. The trade was a 55.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of FELE stock opened at $91.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.87 and a fifty-two week high of $111.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.40.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $566.61 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.950-4.250 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Franklin Electric announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback 1,200,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.