Quantbot Technologies LP Has $605,000 Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. by 130.3%, acquiring an additional 3,644 shares, bringing its total holdings to 6,440 shares valued at approximately $605,000.
• Franklin Electric's stock was upgraded from "hold" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, with a target price raised from $94 to $107 by Robert W. Baird.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.265 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.1%, and has authorized a share buyback plan for 1.2 million shares.

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 130.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,440 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,644 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Electric in the first quarter valued at about $41,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 13,673.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 192,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,076,000 after acquiring an additional 191,150 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 241.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 73,362 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,887,000 after acquiring an additional 51,903 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 430,213 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,924,000 after acquiring an additional 51,137 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 513,896 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,079,000 after acquiring an additional 50,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total value of $2,131,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,046,000. This trade represents a 51.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 10,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.03, for a total value of $983,829.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $801,003.13. The trade was a 55.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,438 shares of company stock valued at $7,346,238 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FELE. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.00.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 0.6%

FELE traded down $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $98.92. 140,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,472. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.87 and a 12 month high of $111.94. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.08. 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's fifty day moving average is $93.31 and its 200-day moving average is $92.59.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 8.71%.The business had revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.61 million. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.950-4.250 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.