Azora Capital LP Invests $76.05 Million in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,188,729 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $76,051,000. Franklin Resources makes up about 3.4% of Azora Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Azora Capital LP owned about 0.61% of Franklin Resources as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,985,065 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $230,713,000 after buying an additional 263,619 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $206,956,000 after acquiring an additional 97,708 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 20.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $139,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,419 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 99.1% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,778,910 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $72,009,000 after purchasing an additional 26,584 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $23.46 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.47.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $23.91.

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.