2,838 Shares in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Purchased by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 7.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 107,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,354 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 44,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 6.4% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FELE. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock 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 Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Three equities 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total value of $1,036,185.36. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

FELE opened at $100.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $101.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.85. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.61 and a 12-month high of $107.89.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued 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 for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.33%.

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.