First Merchants Corp Decreases Stock Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

First Merchants Corp reduced its position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 60.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 151,290 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $9,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FELE. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 335.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 6,195 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 9.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 43.7% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 13,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 4,016 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 6.0% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in Franklin Electric in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Electric Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:FELE opened at $99.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.87 and a 52 week high of $108.08.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $581.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $563.18 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 6.71%.The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.000-4.200 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 34.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $112.00 price target on shares of Franklin Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.00.

Franklin Electric Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc is a world‐leading manufacturer and distributor of systems and components for moving and managing water and fuel. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company specializes in designing engineered pumping systems and related controls for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

Founded in 1944, Franklin Electric has built its reputation on submersible and surface pumping solutions for water wells, municipal water and wastewater treatment, irrigation and industrial fluid handling.