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

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lessened its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 62.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,555 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,223 shares during the period. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,968,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 191,150 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Franklin Electric by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $24,080,000 after buying an additional 92,793 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,675,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 51,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ FELE traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 313,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,908. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.47 and a 200 day moving average of $92.98. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.87 and a twelve month high of $111.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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 firm had revenue of $587.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $566.61 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 27.39%.

Franklin Electric announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback 1,200,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FELE. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total transaction of $2,164,758.44. Following the sale, the director owned 49,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,175,780. This represents a 34.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908. 2.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.