One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$86.85 our estimate vs market $103.94
Wall Street consensus: $113.25 (30.4% higher than our fair-value estimate)
20% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
FELE · NMS · Industrials · Specialty Industrial Machinery
Current price
$103.94
52-week range
$84.82 - $111.53
Market cap
$4.59B
Balance sheet
Healthy
25.34x Strong cushion
Net debt $210.12M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 2.1% last year.
- Reward Returns 11.5% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 27.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 12.7% to 10.2% over 3 years.
What this company does
Franklin Electric Co., Inc.
Franklin Electric makes and sells the essential systems that pump water and fuel for homes, farms, and industries across the globe. The company's money primarily comes from selling water systems, like well pumps and wastewater equipment, and energy systems, such as the pumps used at gas stations. This matters because their products serve fundamental needs for clean water and fuel, which can create consistent demand for the business.
How the company got here
Franklin Electric started in 1944 in an Indiana town, founded by two engineers who named it after Benjamin Franklin, whom they considered the first electrical engineer. [1] Initially, they made small motors and a backpack generator for the military during World War II. [1, 6, 8] After the war, the company pivoted to making motors for home water pumps, and in 1950, it invented the first practical, fully submersible electric motor, a game-changing product that could be placed deep inside a well. [4, 9] This innovation was a huge success and set the company's direction for decades, leading to its expansion into moving other fluids like gasoline and its growth into a global leader through new products and buying other companies. [1, 4]
What it actually does
Franklin Electric makes the hidden systems that move water and fuel in our everyday lives. [1] For example, they build the submersible pumps that draw water from deep underground wells to supply homes and farms, and the equipment at gas stations that safely moves fuel from the storage tank to the pump you use to fill your car. [5, 16] The company produces not just the pumps and motors, but also the electronic controls and drives that make these systems work efficiently and safely. [2, 11] They serve a wide range of customers, from homeowners and farmers to large industrial and municipal (city-level) clients. [12]
Water Systems
This is Franklin Electric's largest business, making up more than half of its sales. [7, 10] This segment creates all the necessary parts to manage water, including submersible motors and pumps for pulling water out of the ground, systems for boosting water pressure in buildings, and pumps for handling wastewater and sewage. [3, 5] Customers are typically professional contractors and distributors who install these systems in new homes, on farms for irrigation (watering crops), or for industrial and city water supplies. [3]
Energy Systems
This part of the company, which accounts for about a third of its business, focuses on the equipment needed to handle fuel and other energy-related fluids. [10] Its main products are the pumping systems used in gas stations, which include the submersible pumps, pipes, and monitoring devices that move fuel safely from underground tanks to the dispenser. [5] This segment also provides monitoring systems for power utilities and data centers to ensure reliable electricity. [5] The customers are oil companies, petroleum equipment distributors, and utilities.
Distribution
This is the company's smallest but still significant business line, which sells water systems products directly to the professionals who install them. [3, 7] This segment acts as a one-stop shop, providing not only Franklin Electric's own pumps and motors but also related products from other manufacturers. [3] By owning the distribution (the process of getting products to customers), the company builds a closer relationship with the contractors who are the end-users of its products, primarily in the U.S. groundwater industry. [3, 7]
What management is betting on now
The company's main strategy for growth is to continue buying other companies, which they call inorganic growth, to enter new markets and add new products. [2, 14] They are particularly focused on expanding in developing regions and adding to their water and energy system offerings. [7, 15] Franklin Electric is also investing heavily in innovation, developing 'smart' products with better digital controls and connectivity to improve efficiency and meet the growing demand for sustainable solutions. [14, 18] The ultimate goal is to become an essential partner that customers rely on for complete water and energy systems, not just individual parts. [17, 18]
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 $86.85 vs current price $103.94
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $113.25 (30.4% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $86.85 a share — about 16.4% below today's price of $103.94, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net debt $210.1M. Interest coverage 25.3x.
Net debt
$210.12M
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 $290.52M Interest coverage 25.34x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $2.06B Interest coverage 45.72x +80% vs FELE Carries about 1.8x more debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $2.08B Interest coverage 13.41x -47% vs FELE Carries about 1.9x less debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $1.90B Interest coverage 11.18x -56% vs FELE Carries about 2.3x less debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $305.00M Interest coverage 43.69x +72% vs FELE Carries about 1.7x more debt cushion than FELE.
Total debt $52.89M Interest coverage 211.11x +733% vs FELE Carries about 8.3x more debt cushion than FELE.
What you should know
The case for and against FELE
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 2.1% last year.
-
Returns 11.5% on equity, ahead of 16% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 27.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Operating margin compressed from 12.7% to 10.2% over 3 years.
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)
31.31x
Forward P/E
20.46x
P/B
3.43x
P/S
2.11x
EV/EBITDA
13.84x
PEG ratio
1.88x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
35.2%
Operating margin
10.2%
Net margin
6.9%
ROE
11.5%
ROA
9.0%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.22x
Current ratio
2.67x
Quick ratio
1.00x
Total debt
$290.52M
Total cash
$80.40M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$2.18B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
6.4%
EPS TTM
3.32
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
32.4%
Last ex-div date
2026-05-07