Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) & Atmus Filtration Technologies (NYSE:ATMU) Head to Head Survey

Atmus Filtration Technologies (NYSE:ATMU) and Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.7% of Atmus Filtration Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Atmus Filtration Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Franklin Electric shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Atmus Filtration Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Atmus Filtration Technologies pays out 9.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franklin Electric pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Atmus Filtration Technologies and Franklin Electric, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atmus Filtration Technologies	0	3	3	0	2.50
Franklin Electric	0	3	0	0	2.00

Atmus Filtration Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $62.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.35%. Franklin Electric has a consensus price target of $114.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.70%. Given Atmus Filtration Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Atmus Filtration Technologies is more favorable than Franklin Electric.

Profitability

This table compares Atmus Filtration Technologies and Franklin Electric’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atmus Filtration Technologies	11.32%	59.85%	14.66%
Franklin Electric	7.06%	15.18%	10.13%

Volatility and Risk

Atmus Filtration Technologies has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Atmus Filtration Technologies and Franklin Electric”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atmus Filtration Technologies	$1.76 billion	2.07	$207.40 million	$2.61	17.17
Franklin Electric	$2.13 billion	1.98	$147.09 million	$3.47	27.57

Atmus Filtration Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Franklin Electric. Atmus Filtration Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Franklin Electric, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Atmus Filtration Technologies beats Franklin Electric on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atmus Filtration Technologies

Atmus Filtration Technologies Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells filtration products under the Fleetguard brand name in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and internationally. The company offers fuel filters, lube filters, air filters, crankcase ventilation, hydraulic filters, coolants, and fuel additives, as well as other chemicals; and fuel water separators and other filtration systems to original equipment manufacturers, dealers/distributors, and end-users. Its products are used in on-highway commercial vehicles and off-highway agriculture, construction, mining, and power generation vehicles and equipment. The company was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

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. Its motors and pumps are used principally for pumping clean water and wastewater in various residential, agricultural, municipal, and industrial applications; and manufactures electronic drives and controls that are used in motors for controlling functionality, as well as provides protection from various hazards, such as electrical surges, over-heating, and dry wells or tanks. The Fueling Systems segment provides pumps, pipes, sumps, fittings, vapor recovery components, electronic controls, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment primarily for use in fueling system applications. This segment serves other energy markets, such as power reliability systems, as well as includes electronic devices for online monitoring of the power utility, hydroelectric, and telecommunication and data center infrastructure. The Distribution segment sells to and provides presale support and specifications to the installing contractors. It sells products produced by the Water Systems segment. The company sells its products to wholesale and retail distributors, specialty distributors, original equipment manufacturers, industrial and petroleum equipment distributors, and oil and utility companies through its employee sales force and independent manufacturing representatives. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.