Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $875,000 Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 68.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 369,996 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,015,000 after acquiring an additional 150,748 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 103.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 207,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,549,000 after purchasing an additional 105,534 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter worth $6,676,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Franklin Electric by 230.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 52,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,650,000 after buying an additional 36,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 615,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,877,000 after acquiring an additional 36,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gregg C. Sengstack sold 10,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.96, for a total transaction of $1,036,185.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,993 shares in the company, valued at $15,493,100.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on FELE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 14th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Franklin Electric from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FELE stock opened at $102.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $102.35 and a 200-day moving average of $95.70. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.61 and a 52-week high of $107.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.96.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $472.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.47 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is currently 24.33%.

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.