Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Franklin Electric from “buy” to “hold.” Other recent ratings also lean neutral, giving the stock an overall “Hold” consensus and a $117.50 average price target.
• Franklin Electric reported quarterly EPS of $1.50, exceeding estimates of $1.40, while revenue rose 8.9% year over year to $633.62 million and surpassed expectations.
• The shares opened at $95.38, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Institutional investors own approximately 79.98% of the company following several major purchases in the second quarter.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on FELE. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Franklin Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.50.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE opened at $95.38 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $98.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.02. Franklin Electric has a 52 week low of $89.54 and a 52 week high of $115.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.10. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm had revenue of $633.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $617.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FELE. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth about $698,173,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter worth about $82,970,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,805,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $33,230,000. Finally, Medina Value Partners LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,122,549. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

About Franklin Electric

Franklin Electric Co, Inc NASDAQ: FELE designs, manufactures and distributes systems and components used to move, manage and control water and other fluids. The company serves residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through products such as submersible pumps, motors, pumping systems, drives, controls, monitoring equipment and water-treatment solutions.

Its Water Systems business provides equipment for groundwater and surface-water applications, including well pumps, pressure systems, wastewater and dewatering products, and related controls and accessories.

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