Brucke Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 189.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $127,000. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FELE. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

FELE stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $86.60. 170,267 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 208,006. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.29. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a one year low of $78.87 and a one year high of $111.94. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The firm had revenue of $455.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.70, for a total value of $2,167,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 74,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,450,653.40. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.