Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & 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.’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $20,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Electric by 25.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after buying an additional 4,010 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 1st quarter worth $293,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,751,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $507,489,000 after acquiring an additional 30,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric during the first quarter valued at about $968,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gregg C. Sengstack sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $150,330.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $905,187.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.3 %

Franklin Electric stock opened at $109.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.96. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.65 and a fifty-two week high of $110.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $102.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.40.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued 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 business had revenue of $531.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.08 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 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.