Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,047 Shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Free Report) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 197,584 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,047 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.43% of Franklin Electric worth $20,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $968,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,751,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $507,489,000 after buying an additional 30,408 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 48,629 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,197,000 after buying an additional 5,311 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Electric by 357.6% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 7,213 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,818 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 7,092 shares in the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Electric from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Franklin Electric Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FELE traded down $2.27 on Thursday, hitting $106.89. 47,517 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 177,464. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.96. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.65 and a 52 week high of $110.97.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.10). Franklin Electric had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $531.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $551.08 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Franklin Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.