Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 26,093 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 26,093 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Franklin Electric worth $6,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 36.5% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 10.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on FELE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $100.00 price target on Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.00.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of FELE stock opened at $95.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.79. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $111.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.30.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $506.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 34.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Franklin Electric news, CEO Joseph A. Ruzynski acquired 500 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.34 per share, for a total transaction of $46,670.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 22,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,120,871.48. This represents a 2.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc is a world‐leading manufacturer and distributor of systems and components for moving and managing water and fuel. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company specializes in designing engineered pumping systems and related controls for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

Founded in 1944, Franklin Electric has built its reputation on submersible and surface pumping solutions for water wells, municipal water and wastewater treatment, irrigation and industrial fluid handling.