Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Hits New 12-Month High at $107.40

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $107.40 and last traded at $107.25, with a volume of 11600 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $106.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FELE. Northcoast Research upgraded Franklin Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $490.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.33%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total value of $1,036,185.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Franklin Electric by 0.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,902,136 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $656,193,000 after purchasing an additional 42,603 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,720,914 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $456,276,000 after acquiring an additional 64,487 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,699,861 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $220,606,000 after acquiring an additional 20,764 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Franklin Electric by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,961,273 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $189,557,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Franklin Electric by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,167,116 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,802,000 after acquiring an additional 14,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.