Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.4 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $24.99 on Friday. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $21.88 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.33.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 6.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $161,338,000 after buying an additional 415,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $91,398,000 after acquiring an additional 154,850 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $75,061,000 after acquiring an additional 202,288 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $55,956,000 after acquiring an additional 37,474 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.