Royce & Associates LP Acquires New Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 811,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,098,000 after acquiring an additional 143,917 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $134,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,046,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 237.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after acquiring an additional 61,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 392,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,208,000 after acquiring an additional 53,825 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total value of $99,117.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,281.14. This trade represents a 11.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FELE opened at $95.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.67 and a 52-week high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $485.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $465.87 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.265 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.53%.

Franklin Electric 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.