Earnest Partners LLC Sells 66,580 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,223,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 66,580 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 2.75% of Franklin Electric worth $116,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,701,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 44.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,552,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $139,285,000 after acquiring an additional 481,108 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 134.8% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 624,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,424,000 after acquiring an additional 358,517 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,223,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 70.1% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 486,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,661,000 after acquiring an additional 200,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Joseph A. Ruzynski bought 500 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.34 per share, for a total transaction of $46,670.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,722 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,871.48. The trade was a 2.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FELE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.00.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $90.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.07. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $111.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.02). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $506.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Franklin Electric Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc is a world‐leading manufacturer and distributor of systems and components for moving and managing water and fuel. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company specializes in designing engineered pumping systems and related controls for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

Founded in 1944, Franklin Electric has built its reputation on submersible and surface pumping solutions for water wells, municipal water and wastewater treatment, irrigation and industrial fluid handling.