Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $11.70 Million Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Franklin Electric Co. by 27.3%, acquiring an additional 26,685 shares to own a total of 124,609 shares valued at approximately $11.7 million.
• Franklin Electric recently achieved a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.31, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.28, while also reporting revenue of $587.43 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.265 per share, set to be paid on August 21st, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 26,685 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.27% of Franklin Electric worth $11,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FELE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 168.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Covestor Ltd boosted 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 in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 50.0% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Electric by 60.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FELE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted 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.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In related news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 10,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.03, for a total value of $983,829.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $801,003.13. This represents a 55.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,438 shares of company stock valued at $9,513,738 over the last ninety days. 2.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE traded down $0.62 on Friday, hitting $95.82. The stock had a trading volume of 291,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,764. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.87 and a twelve month 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $91.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $566.61 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Franklin Electric announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback 1,200,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management 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.