Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Short Interest Down 8.2% in April

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 626,200 shares, a decrease of 8.2% from the March 31st total of 682,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 180,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 0.5 %

FELE traded up $0.47 during trading on Monday, hitting $103.24. The company had a trading volume of 218,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,134. The company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Franklin Electric has a one year low of $82.61 and a one year high of $107.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $102.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.80.

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

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 1st. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 24.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Electric news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total transaction of $1,036,185.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at $15,493,100.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,720,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $456,276,000 after purchasing an additional 64,487 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,975,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,974,000 after acquiring an additional 13,955 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,167,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,802,000 after acquiring an additional 14,944 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Franklin Electric by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,072,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,656,000 after acquiring an additional 30,966 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 615,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,877,000 after purchasing an additional 36,114 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.