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

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 4th, 2022

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.38.

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, June 28th. They set a “sell” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, May 19th.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $27.57 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.11. The company has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 1.20. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $38.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 20.25% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc acquired 56,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.45 per share, for a total transaction of $253,205.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,900 shares in the company, valued at $253,205. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Franklin Resources news, Director Mariann H. Byerwalter sold 3,135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.37, for a total transaction of $73,264.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,292.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc acquired 56,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.45 per share, with a total value of $253,205.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 56,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $253,205. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 1,094,498 shares of company stock worth $4,868,748 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Beacon Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 26,674 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,612 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. RK Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. RK Asset Management LLC now owns 150,994 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 37,246 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 19,297 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.50% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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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.