Short Interest in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) Expands By 16.2%

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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 trading volume, of 197,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Electric

In other Franklin Electric news, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.14, for a total transaction of $99,117.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,701 shares in the company, valued at $794,281.14. This trade represents a 11.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FELE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $56,968,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Franklin Electric by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 811,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $79,098,000 after purchasing an additional 143,917 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $134,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,080,000 after acquiring an additional 92,793 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $8,046,000. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ FELE opened at $99.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Franklin Electric has a 1-year low of $91.67 and a 1-year high of $111.94.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $485.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $465.87 million. Franklin Electric had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.92%. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Electric will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Franklin Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Franklin Electric’s payout ratio is 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.