Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 6,733.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,113 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,965 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 168.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 189.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $134,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 2.0%

Franklin Electric stock traded down $1.71 on Friday, hitting $84.61. 275,029 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 212,125. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.87 and a 1 year high of $111.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $87.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.53. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.06). Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.92%. The business had revenue of $455.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $471.21 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Franklin Electric's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.70, for a total value of $2,167,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 74,402 shares in the company, valued at $6,450,653.40. This represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FELE shares. Robert W. Baird reduced 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

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.