First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Makes New $214,000 Investment in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 4.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 7.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 164.6% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 12,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 3.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $101.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $102.33 and a 200 day moving average of $96.35. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.61 and a 52 week high of $107.89.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $460.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $477.64 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 15.86%. Franklin Electric’s revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their target price on Franklin Electric from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Electric news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.