Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Trims Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,864 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 8,255 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Franklin Electric worth $18,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FELE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 168.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $134,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on FELE. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of FELE opened at $90.01 on Thursday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.87 and a 12 month high of $111.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $88.36 and its 200-day moving average is $93.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). The company 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 14.08% and a net margin of 8.85%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Franklin Electric declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback 1,200,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total transaction of $2,164,758.44. Following the sale, the director owned 49,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,175,780. This represents a 34.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908 over the last three months. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Franklin Electric

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.

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