Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.05.

BEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,460,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,547,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 937.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,576,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 202.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,044 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.7 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $27.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.