MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FELE. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 16.7% during 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 during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 15.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 765 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 55.7% during the 3rd 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 stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FELE opened at $108.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.96. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.74 and a 52-week high of $110.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $102.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.27.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In related news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $150,330.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,187.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Franklin Electric Profile

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.