HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 4.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 40.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,092 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 420.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 8,889 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC increased its position in Franklin Electric by 241.8% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 12,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 8,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 73.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 58,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,176,000 after buying an additional 24,889 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Franklin Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:FELE opened at $98.37 on Friday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.45 and a 12 month high of $111.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.88 and its 200 day moving average is $101.59. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Franklin Electric Company 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.