DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 17,442 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,640 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,442 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.22% of Franklin Electric worth $9,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the third quarter worth $37,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the third quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In related news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE traded down $2.51 on Wednesday, hitting $101.08. The stock had a trading volume of 153,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,213. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.61 and a twelve month high of $107.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.97. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $101.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 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 firm had revenue of $472.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. This is a boost from Franklin Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is currently 24.33%.

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.