Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Given a $107.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Franklin Electric's price target was raised from $94.00 to $107.00 by Robert W. Baird, indicating a potential upside of 11.16% from its current stock price.
• Wall Street Zen upgraded the company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating on the same day.
• Franklin Electric recently authorized a stock repurchase plan allowing the buyback of 1,200,000 shares, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) received a $107.00 price objective from equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Robert W. Baird's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.87% from the stock's previous close.

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

FELE traded down $0.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.15. The stock had a trading volume of 313,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,908. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.07. Franklin Electric has a 1-year low of $78.87 and a 1-year high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.61 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to repurchase 1,200,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,175,780. The trade was a 34.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,342 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,787 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,769,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $464,796,000 after acquiring an additional 45,174 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,080,000 after purchasing an additional 92,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,968,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

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.