Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Receives $89.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE – Get Rating) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $89.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Electric from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In related news, VP Kenneth Keene sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $110,970.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $412,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Kenneth Keene sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $110,970.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $412,589.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 9,246 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.08, for a total transaction of $879,109.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,068,848.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,387 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,860. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FELE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $36,997,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 18.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,679,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $196,271,000 after acquiring an additional 421,342 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 299.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 224,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,882,000 after acquiring an additional 168,128 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 543,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,370,000 after acquiring an additional 115,073 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 22.2% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 442,921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,191,000 after acquiring an additional 80,527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.38% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

FELE opened at $88.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 0.98. Franklin Electric has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $100.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $489.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.50 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 2nd were issued a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 1st. This is an increase from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 22.67%.

About Franklin Electric

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Franklin Electric Co, Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and distribution of water and fuel pumping systems. It operates through the following business segments: Water Systems, Fueling Systems, and Distribution. The Water Systems segment designs, manufactures, and sells water pumping systems, submersible motors, pumps, electronic controls, and related parts and equipment.