Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,047 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.43% of Franklin Electric worth $20,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 107 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 16.7% during 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 during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 29.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Franklin Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Electric

In related news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $150,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,187.04. This represents a 14.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Franklin Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ FELE opened at $98.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.45 and a 52-week high of $111.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.66.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $531.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.32%.

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.