Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) to Buyback 1,200,000 Shares

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 1,200,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Franklin Electric Trading Down 0.1%

FELE traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $85.73. 221,343 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 212,947. The firm's fifty day moving average is $87.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.08. Franklin Electric has a 1-year low of $78.87 and a 1-year high of $111.94. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $455.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.21 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 8.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on FELE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Franklin Electric from $111.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.10, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total value of $2,164,758.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,175,780. This represents a 34.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.