Wellington Management Group LLP Has $3.58 Million Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,105 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.08% of Franklin Electric worth $3,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $127,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.70, for a total transaction of $2,167,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 74,402 shares in the company, valued at $6,450,653.40. This trade represents a 25.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908 in the last ninety days. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FELE shares. Robert W. Baird cut 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 raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FELE traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.54. 220,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,032. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $87.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.40. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company had revenue of $455.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

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.