Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE BEN traded down $0.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.95. 555,256 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,642,072. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 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 company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.37.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

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.