American Century Companies Inc. Grows Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $1,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FELE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 168.5% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the first quarter worth $46,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 27.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 50.0% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 10,036 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.03, for a total value of $983,829.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,171 shares in the company, valued at $801,003.13. The trade was a 55.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were 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. 2.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FELE has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.00.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

FELE opened at $97.86 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.45. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.87 and a 1 year high of $111.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.07.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 8.71%.The company had revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.61 million. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.950-4.250 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.