Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,741 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.22% of Franklin Electric worth $9,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Electric by 189.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of FELE stock opened at $88.74 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $90.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.10. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.87 and a 1-year high of $111.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $455.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.21 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FELE shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total value of $99,117.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $794,281.14. The trade was a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company 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.