Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 574,600 shares, a decline of 12.7% from the November 15th total of 658,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 178,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE opened at $105.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.22 and a 200 day moving average of $101.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98. Franklin Electric has a 52 week low of $91.45 and a 52 week high of $111.94.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $531.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Electric will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $150,330.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at $905,187.04. This trade represents a 14.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FELE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 16.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the third quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 29.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

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.