Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) Stock Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average on Analyst Downgrade

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday after DA Davidson upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $100.18 and traded as high as $101.94. DA Davidson now has a $135.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $105.00. Franklin Electric shares last traded at $100.30, with a volume of 317,656 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Franklin Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price objective on Franklin Electric in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.50.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $383,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 7.0% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 31,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,518 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 99,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,521,000 after purchasing an additional 28,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Electric by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 10,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.98% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.34 and a 200-day moving average of $100.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $633.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $617.19 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 8.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is presently 25.17%.

Franklin Electric Company Profile

Franklin Electric Co, Inc (NASDAQ: FELE) designs, manufactures and distributes systems and components used to move, manage and control water and other fluids. The company serves residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through products such as submersible pumps, motors, pumping systems, drives, controls, monitoring equipment and water-treatment solutions.

Its Water Systems business provides equipment for groundwater and surface-water applications, including well pumps, pressure systems, wastewater and dewatering products, and related controls and accessories.