Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Expected to Post Q3 2022 Earnings of $0.90 Per Share

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) – Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group raised their Q3 2022 earnings estimates for Franklin Resources in a report released on Wednesday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst D. Fannon now anticipates that the closed-end fund will post earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.79. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Franklin Resources’ Q4 2022 earnings at $0.90 EPS and FY2022 earnings at $3.83 EPS.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 3rd. The closed-end fund reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 18.48% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 12th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $33.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $44.50 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.86.

Shares of BEN opened at $25.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $24.45 and a 1-year high of $38.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.96.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 31st were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 31.18%.

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc purchased 998,370 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.27 per share, for a total transaction of $12,249,999.90. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 14,079,687 shares in the company, valued at $172,757,759.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 23.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BEN. London Co. of Virginia lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.7% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 3,961,084 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $117,723,000 after buying an additional 103,256 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 339.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,176,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $34,974,000 after purchasing an additional 908,777 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 77,486 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 183,021 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $6,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.9% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 182,637 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,428,000 after purchasing an additional 8,499 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.50% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile (Get Rating)

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.

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