Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Franklin Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.50.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of FELE opened at $100.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.02. Franklin Electric has a 12-month low of $89.54 and a 12-month high of $115.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $98.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.19.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $633.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $617.19 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Electric will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is presently 25.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 28.2% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,707 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 75,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,986,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 555 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Electric

Franklin Electric Co, Inc (NASDAQ: FELE) designs, manufactures and distributes systems and components used to move, manage and control water and other fluids. The company serves residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through products such as submersible pumps, motors, pumping systems, drives, controls, monitoring equipment and water-treatment solutions.

Its Water Systems business provides equipment for groundwater and surface-water applications, including well pumps, pressure systems, wastewater and dewatering products, and related controls and accessories.