Franklin Resources Inc. Invests $292,000 in Lindsay Co. (NYSE:LNN)

Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lindsay Co. (NYSE:LNN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,470 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Lindsay by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 146,122 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,288,000 after acquiring an additional 7,952 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lindsay by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 53,713 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,355,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lindsay in the 4th quarter worth $1,475,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Lindsay by 304.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 41,640 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,926,000 after purchasing an additional 31,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lindsay by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,260,171 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $149,091,000 after purchasing an additional 10,649 shares in the last quarter. 89.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LNN shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Lindsay from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Lindsay from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Lindsay Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNN traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $127.63. 25,744 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 86,029. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.72. Lindsay Co. has a 1 year low of $109.27 and a 1 year high of $140.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 3.87 and a quick ratio of 2.65. The company's 50-day moving average is $128.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.97.

Lindsay (NYSE:LNN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $187.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.50 million. Lindsay had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 11.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lindsay Co. will post 5.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lindsay Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Lindsay's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.48%.

About Lindsay

Lindsay Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides water management and road infrastructure products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Irrigation and Infrastructure. The Irrigation segment manufactures and markets center pivot, lateral move irrigation systems, and irrigation controls under the Zimmatic brand; hose reel travelers under the Perrot brand; and chemical injection systems, variable rate irrigation systems, flow meters, weather stations, soil moisture sensors, and remote monitoring and control systems.