One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$88.81 our estimate vs market $96.09
Wall Street consensus: $118.50 (33.4% higher than our fair-value estimate)
8% above our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
FELE · NMS · Industrials · Specialty Industrial Machinery
Current price
$96.09
52-week range
$89.54 - $115.82
Market cap
$4.25B
Balance sheet
Healthy
25.34x Strong cushion
Net debt $211.04M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 2.1% last year.
- Reward Returns 11.8% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Stock trades 12.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
What this company does
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
Franklin Electric makes and sells the essential pumps and systems that move water and fuel for farms, cities, and gas stations. The company makes most of its money from these water systems, which are critical for everything from agriculture to providing clean drinking water for communities. Because this equipment is a basic necessity and wears out over time, the company often sees steady demand for both new projects and replacements.
How the company got here
Franklin Electric was founded in 1944 by two engineers, E.J. Schaefer and T.W. Kehoe, who named it after Benjamin Franklin, whom they considered America's first electrical engineer. Their first product was a generator for military radios during World War II. After the war, the company shifted to making electric motors for water pumps, just as the post-war housing boom created huge demand. A key turning point was the development of the first reliable submersible electric motor, which could be placed underwater directly in a well. This innovation became the foundation of the company, which has since grown by expanding its water systems products and acquiring companies in related fields like fuel pumping and distribution.
What it actually does
Franklin Electric makes and sells the hidden but essential systems that move water and fuel. Think of the submersible pump deep inside a water well that brings water to a house or farm, or the pumping system at a gas station that moves gasoline from the underground tank to the dispenser. The company produces the motors, pumps, electronic controls, and related parts for these tasks. Their products are used in a wide range of applications, from residential homes and farms to large industrial sites and municipal water systems.
Water Systems
This is the company's largest and original business, making up more than half of its sales. It designs and manufactures a wide variety of products used to move water and wastewater, including submersible motors, pumps, and electronic controls. Customers include contractors who drill wells, farmers who need irrigation, and managers of municipal or industrial water facilities. This segment provides the core equipment for pulling water out of the ground, boosting water pressure in buildings, and handling wastewater.
Energy Systems
This part of the company focuses on the safe movement and monitoring of fuel and other energy-related fluids. It produces the submersible pumps, piping, and monitoring equipment used at gas stations to get fuel from underground storage tanks into your car. Beyond gas stations, this segment also creates monitoring devices for power utilities and data centers to ensure the reliability of their energy infrastructure. While smaller than the water business, this is the company's most profitable segment.
Distribution
This segment, which operates as Headwater Companies, is a network of company-owned distributors. Instead of just manufacturing products, this business sells them directly to the professional contractors and installers who put them to use. These distribution centers sell Franklin Electric's own products as well as related items from other manufacturers, acting as a one-stop shop for groundwater professionals. This gives the company a direct connection to its end customers and helps pull through sales of its manufactured goods.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on becoming a provider of complete systems rather than just individual parts. Management is pushing for growth by developing new, innovative products and expanding into related markets like water treatment and dewatering for mines. They are also making strategic acquisitions (buying other companies) to add new technologies and expand their market reach. A key priority is to increase margins (the profit made on each dollar of sales) through greater efficiency and by selling more integrated, high-value systems.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$26.10M
FY2024 Q3
$106.63M
FY2024 Q4
$97.48M
FY2025 Q1
$-26.30M
FY2025 Q2
$39.89M
FY2025 Q3
$91.28M
FY2025 Q4
$88.67M
FY2026 Q1
$-50.35M
Revenue
$500.44M
Net income
$34.33M
Diluted EPS
0.77
Operating cash flow
$-40.88M
Free cash flow
$-50.35M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$506.86M
Net income
$39.25M
Diluted EPS
0.87
Operating cash flow
$104.19M
Free cash flow
$88.67M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$581.71M
Net income
$16.74M
Diluted EPS
0.37
Operating cash flow
$102.69M
Free cash flow
$91.28M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$587.43M
Net income
$60.14M
Diluted EPS
1.31
Operating cash flow
$51.47M
Free cash flow
$39.89M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$455.25M
Net income
$30.96M
Diluted EPS
0.67
Operating cash flow
$-19.47M
Free cash flow
$-26.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$485.75M
Net income
$33.66M
Diluted EPS
0.73
Operating cash flow
$110.27M
Free cash flow
$97.48M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$531.44M
Net income
$54.60M
Diluted EPS
1.17
Operating cash flow
$116.08M
Free cash flow
$106.63M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$543.26M
Net income
$59.10M
Diluted EPS
1.26
Operating cash flow
$36.37M
Free cash flow
$26.10M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $88.81 vs current price $96.09
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $118.50 (33.4% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $88.81 a share — about 7.6% away from today's price of $96.09, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net debt $211.0M. Interest coverage 25.3x.
Net debt
$211.04M
Interest coverage
25.34x
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 25.3 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
FELE
BASELINE
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
Total debt $308.32M Interest coverage 25.34x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $3.06B Interest coverage 45.72x +80% vs FELE Carries about 1.8x more debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $1.76B Interest coverage 13.41x -47% vs FELE Carries about 1.9x less debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $677.20M Interest coverage 53.93x +113% vs FELE Carries about 2.1x more debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $275.14M Interest coverage 4.08x -84% vs FELE Carries about 6.2x less debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $211.80M Interest coverage 43.69x +72% vs FELE Carries about 1.7x more debt cushion than FELE.
What you should know
The case for and against FELE
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 2.1% last year.
-
Returns 11.8% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 12.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
27.61x
Forward P/E
18.61x
P/B
3.02x
P/S
1.92x
EV/EBITDA
12.85x
PEG ratio
1.57x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
35.5%
Operating margin
15.4%
Net margin
7.1%
ROE
11.8%
ROA
8.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.22x
Current ratio
2.41x
Quick ratio
0.99x
Total debt
$308.32M
Total cash
$97.28M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$2.18B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
6.4%
EPS TTM
3.48
EPS 5Y CAGR
-6.7%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$217.47M
Free CF TTM
$193.54M
FCF margin
8.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.1%
Payout ratio
31.3%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-06