Aristides Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FELE. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $245,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Franklin Electric by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 206,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,086,000 after purchasing an additional 3,318 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Franklin Electric by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 171,994 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,761,000 after purchasing an additional 12,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total value of $99,117.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,701 shares in the company, valued at approximately $794,281.14. This represents a 11.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FELE traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $89.38. 230,529 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 198,881. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $98.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.02. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.69 and a 52-week high of $111.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.03. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company had revenue of $485.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $465.87 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.265 dividend. This is a boost from Franklin Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is presently 27.53%.

About Franklin Electric

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.