Short Interest in Franklin Financial Services Co. (NASDAQ:FRAF) Declines By 33.9%

Franklin Financial Services Co. (NASDAQ:FRAF) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,100 shares, a decrease of 33.9% from the January 31st total of 6,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Franklin Financial Services

In other news, Director Gregory A. Duffey purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.90 per share, with a total value of $101,700.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,782 shares in the company, valued at $806,209.80. This represents a 14.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired a total of 3,060 shares of company stock worth $103,816 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Financial Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 440,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares during the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,518,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 62,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Financial Services Stock Up 0.1 %

FRAF stock opened at $37.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.36. Franklin Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $25.11 and a fifty-two week high of $38.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $166.44 million, a P/E ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.34.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 9.64%.

Franklin Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Franklin Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.41%.

About Franklin Financial Services

Franklin Financial Services Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Farmers and Merchants Trust Company of Chambersburg that provides commercial, retail banking, and trust services to businesses, individuals, governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Pennsylvania. It offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, money management, and time deposit accounts, as well as demand deposits.