Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 182 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 168.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,968,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 13,673.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 192,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,076,000 after buying an additional 191,150 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $134,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,080,000 after buying an additional 92,793 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,046,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total value of $2,164,758.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,175,780. The trade was a 34.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

FELE stock opened at $88.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.98. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.87 and a 52-week high of $111.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.38.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share (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 8.85% and a return on equity of 14.08%. Franklin Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase 1,200,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FELE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Franklin Electric 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.