Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Shares Break Above 200-Day Moving Average Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Franklin Electric shares rose above their 200-day moving average, reaching $101.94 and last trading at $100.30, after DA Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its price target to $135 from $105.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus Hold rating, with one Buy and two Hold ratings and an average price target of $132.50. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 79.98% of the company.
• Franklin Electric reported quarterly EPS of $1.50, surpassing estimates by $0.10, while revenue rose 8.9% year over year to $633.62 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday after DA Davidson upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $100.18 and traded as high as $101.94. DA Davidson now has a $135.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $105.00. Franklin Electric shares last traded at $100.30, with a volume of 317,656 shares traded.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on FELE. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price target on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Franklin Electric from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FELE. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 586 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.8% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,707 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 75,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,986,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 555 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $98.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.18.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $633.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $617.19 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 8.83%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.17%.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc NASDAQ: FELE designs, manufactures and distributes systems and components used to move, manage and control water and other fluids. The company serves residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through products such as submersible pumps, motors, pumping systems, drives, controls, monitoring equipment and water-treatment solutions.

Its Water Systems business provides equipment for groundwater and surface-water applications, including well pumps, pressure systems, wastewater and dewatering products, and related controls and accessories.

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