Franklin Resources (BEN) Expected to Announce Earnings on Friday

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) is expected to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, January 31st. Analysts expect Franklin Resources to post earnings of $0.56 per share and revenue of $2,490,364.07 billion for the quarter. Investors that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Franklin Resources to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $19.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.10. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.18.

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.