Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Position Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,887 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,675 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.46% of Franklin Electric worth $19,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FELE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,769,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $464,796,000 after acquiring an additional 45,174 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 0.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,045,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $194,551,000 after buying an additional 11,715 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,968,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 513,896 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,079,000 after acquiring an additional 50,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,093,000 after acquiring an additional 10,580 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total transaction of $2,164,758.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,175,780. This trade represents a 34.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FELE traded down $0.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $90.89. 138,547 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 223,726. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day moving average price is $88.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.87 and a twelve month high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $455.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $471.21 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.85% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase 1,200,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FELE has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Franklin Electric Company 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.