King Luther Capital Management Corp Lowers 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 lessened its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,162,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 19,376 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 2.55% of Franklin Electric worth $109,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $327,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 27.4% in the 1st 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. lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 78,790 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,397,000 after purchasing an additional 15,907 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 511,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $48,063,000 after purchasing an additional 8,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haven Private LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 5,006 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 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 the business's stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the director directly owned 24,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,046,000. The trade was a 51.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908 in the last 90 days. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FELE. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE traded down $3.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.86. 86,421 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 267,801. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.77. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.87 and a 52-week high of $111.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $566.61 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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.