Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 840 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $2,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 505,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,838,000 after purchasing an additional 6,662 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 143,345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 51.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of FELE stock opened at $100.51 on Friday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.61 and a 12 month high of $107.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.47 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 24.33%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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