Boston Trust Walden Corp Cuts Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden trimmed its Franklin Electric stake by 6.8% in Q4, selling 42,003 shares and ending with 574,257 shares valued at about $54.86 million, while roughly 79.98% of the stock is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Franklin Electric missed Q4 estimates with EPS of $0.87 (vs. $0.89 expected) and revenue of $506.9M (vs. $516.3M), but set FY2026 guidance of 4.40–4.60 EPS, near analysts' consensus of ~4.54.
• Insider activity included CEO Joseph Ruzynski buying 500 shares (bringing his holdings to 22,722), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share ($1.12 annualized, ~1.1% yield).

Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 574,257 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 42,003 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 1.29% of Franklin Electric worth $54,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FELE. Amundi grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 134.8% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 624,481 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $59,424,000 after purchasing an additional 358,517 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $27,266,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Electric in the third quarter worth $24,223,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 70.1% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 486,523 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,661,000 after purchasing an additional 200,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 79.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 375,251 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,848,000 after purchasing an additional 165,646 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In related news, CEO Joseph A. Ruzynski acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.34 per share, for a total transaction of $46,670.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 22,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,120,871.48. This represents a 2.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.89% of the company's stock.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:FELE opened at $101.04 on Wednesday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.87 and a 12 month high of $111.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.07.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 6.90%.The company had revenue of $506.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This is an increase from Franklin Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FELE. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. DA Davidson set a $100.00 price target on shares of Franklin Electric in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Electric has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.00.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc is a world‐leading manufacturer and distributor of systems and components for moving and managing water and fuel. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company specializes in designing engineered pumping systems and related controls for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

Founded in 1944, Franklin Electric has built its reputation on submersible and surface pumping solutions for water wells, municipal water and wastewater treatment, irrigation and industrial fluid handling.

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