Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Key Points

• Franklin Electric's stock has been upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, indicating positive sentiment among analysts.
• The company recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.31, exceeding expectations and demonstrating a healthy revenue of $587.43 million for the quarter.
• Franklin Electric has initiated a stock buyback program allowing for the repurchase of 1.2 million shares, suggesting the board believes the stock is undervalued.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird set a $107.00 price objective on Franklin Electric and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Franklin Electric stock opened at $93.15 on Friday. Franklin Electric 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 current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.07.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $566.61 million. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Electric will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase 1,200,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, Director David M. Wathen sold 25,402 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,175,780. This represents a 34.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was 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 sold 99,402 shares of company stock valued at $8,529,908 in the last quarter. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Electric

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 8.9% in the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 8,064 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 17.0% in the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 21,812 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,177 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 863.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 32,791 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,943,000 after purchasing an additional 29,389 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 8.3% in the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,958 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 34.9% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 42,930 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 11,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company's stock.

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.

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