Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $240,000 Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 62.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,555 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,223 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 2.7% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 833,985 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $78,295,000 after acquiring an additional 22,303 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 8.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 10.9% during the first quarter. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,436 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. BHK Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 9.8% during the first quarter. BHK Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the first quarter valued at $695,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 0.9%

FELE traded down $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.15. The company had a trading volume of 313,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,908. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $89.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.05. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.08. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.87 and a 12-month high of $111.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.72.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Franklin Electric announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 51.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company's stock.

Franklin Electric 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.