Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 5,105 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,105 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.08% of Franklin Electric worth $3,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FELE. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 66.2% during 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 during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 189.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth $127,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FELE. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report 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.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction of $2,167,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 74,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,450,653.40. The trade was a 25.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of FELE traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.54. 220,602 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 210,394. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.52 and a 200-day moving average of $96.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.22. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $455.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.21 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. Franklin Electric's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 1.22%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

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.