Bank of America Corp DE Has $90.17 Million Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 925,336 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 23,643 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 2.03% of Franklin Electric worth $90,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 189.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 150.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total transaction of $99,117.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,701 shares in the company, valued at $794,281.14. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 1.6%

FELE traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.96. The stock had a trading volume of 320,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,241. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $90.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.87 and a 1-year high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $455.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.21 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.92%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Franklin Electric 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.