Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 18,968 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden reduced its Franklin Electric stake by 4.8%, selling 18,968 shares in the third quarter and retaining 378,192 shares, valued at about $36.3 million.
• Franklin Electric beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.50 versus $1.40 expected and revenue of $633.6 million, up 8.9% year over year. The company also announced a $0.28 quarterly dividend.
• Analyst sentiment was mixed, but MarketBeat’s consensus rating was “Moderate Buy” with a $132.50 target price; shares opened at $95.91 and were down 4.1%.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 378,192 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 18,968 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.86% of Franklin Electric worth $36,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FELE. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 28.2% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 586 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 0.8% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,707 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 21.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 75,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,986,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 555 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 4.1%

FELE opened at $95.91 on Friday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $89.54 and a 12 month high of $115.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $98.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.17.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $633.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $617.19 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 15.45%. Franklin Electric's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FELE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Franklin Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Franklin Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Franklin Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price objective on Franklin Electric in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $132.50.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

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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