King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. by 1.6%, owning 1,162,280 shares worth $109.1 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Franklin Electric's quarterly earnings reported $1.31 per share, exceeding expectations and a revenue of $587.43 million, surpassing forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.265, with an annualized yield of 1.2%, and initiated a stock repurchase plan for 1.2 million outstanding shares.

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,162,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 19,376 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 2.55% of Franklin Electric worth $109,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric during the first quarter worth approximately $327,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 27.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 25.3% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 78,790 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,397,000 after buying an additional 15,907 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 1.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 511,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $48,063,000 after purchasing an additional 8,190 shares during the period. Finally, Haven Private LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 4.0% in the first quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 5,006 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FELE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In related news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total transaction of $2,131,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,046,000. This represents a 51.02% 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 over the last ninety days. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of FELE stock opened at $92.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.77 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 results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $566.61 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 14.05%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Franklin Electric announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase 1,200,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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