Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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 stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of FELE traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.13. The stock had a trading volume of 55,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,469. The company's fifty day moving average is $89.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Franklin Electric has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $111.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Franklin Electric declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to repurchase 1,200,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Wathen sold 24,000 shares of the firm's 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 document filed with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total transaction of $2,164,758.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 49,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,175,780. This trade represents a 34.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,402 shares of company stock worth $8,529,908 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 168.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 290 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.