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

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

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FELE traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $103.24. 218,998 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,134. Franklin Electric has a twelve month low of $82.61 and a twelve month 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 8.1% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Franklin Electric by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 164.6% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 12,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on FELE shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.