Stamos Capital Partners L.P. Increases Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,680 shares during the quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 95,230 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 23,760 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $376,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $273,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 714,660 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $18,853,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 254,976 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $6,869,000 after acquiring an additional 4,190 shares during the last quarter. 46.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $25.25.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.87. 1,856,700 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,359,001. The stock has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.94. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.24 and a 12 month high of $34.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 75.00%.

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.