Bank of Montreal Can Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 74.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,084 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $2,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Franklin Electric by 189.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Franklin Electric by 150.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total transaction of $99,117.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,701 shares in the company, valued at $794,281.14. This represents a 11.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Franklin Electric stock opened at $87.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.69 and a 1-year high of $111.94.

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

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The business 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 a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 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.