Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Shares Sold by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 895 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 415,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,459,000 after purchasing an additional 28,121 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 132,264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 181,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $688,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $150,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,187.04. This represents a 14.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of FELE opened at $99.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $101.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.88. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.67 and a 1-year high of $111.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.00.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its 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). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $531.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $551.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Franklin Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. This is a boost from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.32%.

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.