Bank of America Corp DE Lowers Stock Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 925,336 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 23,643 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 2.03% of Franklin Electric worth $90,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. BHK Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,139 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,739 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,192 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on FELE shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total transaction of $99,117.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,701 shares in the company, valued at $794,281.14. The trade was a 11.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE traded up $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $88.52. 318,487 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 205,237. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $111.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.34. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company had revenue of $455.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Franklin Electric's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes water and fuel pumping systems worldwide. The company operates through Water Systems, Fueling Systems, and Distribution segments. The Water Systems segment offers submersible motors, drives, pumps, electronic controls, water treatment systems, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment.