Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st.

Franklin Electric has increased its dividend by an average of 13.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Franklin Electric has a payout ratio of 21.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Franklin Electric to earn $4.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.2%.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of FELE stock opened at $102.05 on Tuesday. Franklin Electric has a 1 year low of $82.61 and a 1 year high of $107.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.33. The company has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Franklin Electric will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FELE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total value of $1,036,185.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

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.