Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Short Interest Update

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 559,400 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the February 13th total of 481,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 197,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ FELE traded down $2.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,769,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,385. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.75. Franklin Electric has a twelve month low of $91.67 and a twelve month high of $111.94.

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

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Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Franklin Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Franklin Electric's payout ratio is 27.53%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of Franklin Electric 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 directly owns 7,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at $794,281.14. The trade was a 11.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,769,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $464,796,000 after purchasing an additional 45,174 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,004,057 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,264,000 after purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 811,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $79,098,000 after purchasing an additional 143,917 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $56,968,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Franklin Electric by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 513,896 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,079,000 after purchasing an additional 50,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company's stock.

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.