Barclays Cuts Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $20.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

BEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $23.83.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.79. The company has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.50. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 250.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $76,051,000. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 99.1% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 5,237,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $100,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607,460 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $60,618,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $51,384,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth $32,293,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.