Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 7,091.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 15,742 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $50,010,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 134.8% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 624,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,424,000 after acquiring an additional 358,517 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,266,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 70.1% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 486,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,661,000 after buying an additional 200,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 375,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,848,000 after buying an additional 165,646 shares during the period. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on FELE. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $105.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $89.54 and a 12 month high of $111.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $102.29 and a 200 day moving average of $99.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 6.91%.The firm had revenue of $500.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.21 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Franklin Electric’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $190,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,040,200. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 8,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $883,759.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,509 shares in the company, valued at $776,430.60. This trade represents a 53.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,835 shares of company stock valued at $2,004,982. 2.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Franklin Electric

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.