Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Raises Stock Holdings in Franklin Electric Co., Inc. $FELE

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:FELE) by 58.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 141,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 52,161 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Franklin Electric were worth $13,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Electric in the fourth quarter worth $50,010,000. Amundi lifted its position in Franklin Electric by 134.8% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 624,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,424,000 after purchasing an additional 358,517 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Franklin Electric by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 486,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,661,000 after buying an additional 200,545 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 116.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 147,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,562,000 after buying an additional 79,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Electric by 107.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 147,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,089,000 after buying an additional 76,746 shares during the last quarter. 79.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FELE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan M. Grandon sold 8,547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $883,759.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,430.60. This represents a 53.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Delancey W. Davis sold 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $190,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,040,200. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,835 shares of company stock worth $2,004,982. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Electric Price Performance

Franklin Electric stock opened at $105.43 on Tuesday. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $89.54 and a 12-month high of $111.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.03.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $500.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.21 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 6.91% and a return on equity of 14.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Electric Co., Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Franklin Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

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.