Zacks Research Upgrades Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) to “Strong-Buy”

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Franklin Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $130.00 price target on Franklin Electric in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Franklin Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Franklin Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.50.

Franklin Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Electric stock opened at $100.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.33. Franklin Electric has a 1 year low of $89.54 and a 1 year high of $115.82.

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $633.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $617.19 million. Franklin Electric had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Electric will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Electric

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $698,173,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $82,970,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Franklin Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $33,805,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth $33,230,000. Finally, Medina Value Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Electric in the second quarter worth $25,122,549. 79.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Franklin Electric

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.