Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.18.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 32,904 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after buying an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.5% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 83,401 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 57.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 870,318 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $19,432,000 after acquiring an additional 316,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 158.8% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 40,765 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 25,014 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8 %

BEN opened at $19.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.14 and a 200 day moving average of $21.15. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $18.83 and a 12 month high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.84%.

About Franklin Resources

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.