Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $111.35 and last traded at $110.80, with a volume of 3971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Franklin Electric Stock Up 2.2 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.40.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released 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 firm had revenue of $531.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 9.22%. Franklin Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors 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 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of Franklin Electric 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 owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,187.04. The trade was a 14.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,004,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,264,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 237.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Franklin Electric by 2.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 7.1% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 3,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the third quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Electric

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.