KBC Group NV Increases Stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 387,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,436 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $40,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FELE. First Merchants Corp bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter worth $19,054,000. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth about $9,158,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 116.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 165,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,951,000 after buying an additional 89,128 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 328.4% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 64,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,206,000 after acquiring an additional 49,391 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,030,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,810,000 after acquiring an additional 40,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $106.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.96. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.37. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.65 and a 52 week high of $110.97.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 9.22%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 25.32%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In related news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $150,330.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $905,187.04. The trade was a 14.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.