Vest Financial LLC Buys New Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Vest Financial LLC bought a new position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 31,821 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,987,000. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Franklin Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $241,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 503,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,093,000 after purchasing an additional 10,580 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 62,165 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 205,212 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,998,000 after purchasing an additional 7,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 1.0%

FELE stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.54. The company had a trading volume of 220,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,037. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $111.94. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $87.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.27. 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.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $455.25 million during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Electric news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total value of $2,164,758.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,175,780. This represents a 34.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FELE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

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.