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

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.18.

Several research firms recently commented on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $19.56 on Monday. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $18.83 and a 1-year high of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.15. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.