Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Position Trimmed by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $1,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $100.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $101.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.92. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FELE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Northcoast Research raised Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com cut Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

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.