Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Upgraded at DA Davidson

Key Points

• DA Davidson upgraded Franklin Electric from “neutral” to “buy” and assigned a $135 price target, implying 41.54% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Franklin Electric has an average “hold” rating and a consensus target price of $132.50, despite the DA Davidson upgrade.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.50 in EPS versus $1.40 estimated and revenue of $633.62 million, up 8.9% year over year.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at DA Davidson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $135.00 target price on the industrial products company's stock. DA Davidson's target price indicates a potential upside of 41.54% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Franklin Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 target price on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Franklin Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Electric presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.50.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of FELE opened at $95.38 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $98.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.02. Franklin Electric has a 1-year low of $89.54 and a 1-year high of $115.82.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $633.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $617.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Franklin Electric will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the second quarter valued at about $698,173,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,009,687 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $93,059,000 after purchasing an additional 36,268 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 25.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 881,425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $81,225,000 after purchasing an additional 177,433 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 11.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 824,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $75,956,000 after purchasing an additional 81,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 81.4% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 481,906 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $44,417,000 after purchasing an additional 216,250 shares in the last quarter. 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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