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

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.0909.

Several research firms have recently commented on BEN. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $232,833,000 after acquiring an additional 553,184 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $206,956,000 after purchasing an additional 97,708 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $95,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370,132 shares during the period. Amundi raised 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. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,242,470 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $74,998,000 after purchasing an additional 53,741 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $23.81 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.04 and its 200-day moving average is $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.44. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 30th. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 145.05%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.