Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Has $285,000 Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 17.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,589 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 1,589 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. ETF Managers Group LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 1.5% in the first quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 26,299 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,586 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,884 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.4% in the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 14,888 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 22,250 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.53% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.13. 470,231 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,328,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 1.30. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $20.24 and a one year high of $34.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.75.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $25.25.

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.