Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Short Interest Up 6.0% in August

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 689,100 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the August 15th total of 649,900 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 167,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Franklin Electric Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of FELE traded up $1.74 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $103.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 27,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,582. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.95. Franklin Electric has a 1-year low of $82.61 and a 1-year high of $108.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.12.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.06). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company had revenue of $543.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $570.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Franklin Electric will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Jay J. Walsh sold 14,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,473,391.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,770,056.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 5,396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.64, for a total value of $575,429.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 98,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,460,637.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay J. Walsh sold 14,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,473,391.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,056.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,486 shares of company stock valued at $2,568,171. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FELE. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Franklin Electric by 88.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth about $36,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Franklin Electric by 121,400.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $147,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.