Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 589,900 shares, a decrease of 5.5% from the December 15th total of 624,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 169,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $150,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at $905,187.04. This represents a 14.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 16.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 55.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 1.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 2.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE opened at $98.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.00. Franklin Electric has a 1 year low of $91.67 and a 1 year high of $111.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $102.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.67.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $531.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Franklin Electric will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

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.