Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 43,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,974,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 97,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,291,000 after acquiring an additional 32,113 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,760,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 375,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,848,000 after acquiring an additional 165,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Franklin Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,266,000. 79.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Franklin Electric in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.00.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FELE opened at $105.14 on Friday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.63 and a fifty-two week high of $111.53. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.27.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $500.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.21 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 6.91% and a return on equity of 14.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Franklin Electric has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 8,547 shares of Franklin Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $883,759.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,430.60. The trade was a 53.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $190,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,402 shares in the company, valued at $1,040,200. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 19,835 shares of company stock worth $2,004,982 in the last 90 days. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.