Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,632 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.69% of Franklin Electric worth $28,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Franklin Electric by 0.8% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 75,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,986,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 224,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,659,000 after acquiring an additional 10,325 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 7,091.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 15,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 29.2% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 6,122 shares during the period. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Franklin Electric stock opened at $105.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $102.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.05. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.54 and a 1 year high of $111.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $500.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.21 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 6.91% and a return on equity of 14.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 1,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $190,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,040,200. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 8,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 19,835 shares of company stock valued at $2,004,982. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.