Sapient Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 107,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,945,000 after buying an additional 7,354 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 4,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 44,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,711 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

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 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on FELE. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 14th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

FELE stock opened at $100.39 on Tuesday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.61 and a twelve month high of $107.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.85. 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 (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.47 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 24.33%.

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.