Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $21.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Franklin Resources traded as high as $25.68 and last traded at $25.64, with a volume of 118055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.29.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1,005.0% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 19,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 17,577 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $452,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 12.3% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 183,545 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,378,000 after purchasing an additional 20,124 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,236,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $77,192,000 after acquiring an additional 80,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 102,310 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 8,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a PE ratio of 50.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.31.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 250.98%.

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.