Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Northcoast Research raised shares of 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Franklin Electric from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

FELE opened at $101.24 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.35. Franklin Electric has a 52-week low of $82.61 and a 52-week high of $107.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.99.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.04). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $460.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $477.64 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Electric will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total transaction of $1,036,185.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Franklin Electric by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,588,000 after acquiring an additional 7,325 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 92,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,949,000 after purchasing an additional 14,074 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 23.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 24,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $767,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,656,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $415,493,000 after buying an additional 17,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

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.