Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives $27.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.50.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $793,983,000 after buying an additional 4,043,808 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $161,338,000 after buying an additional 415,512 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $91,398,000 after buying an additional 154,850 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,061,000 after buying an additional 202,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $55,956,000 after buying an additional 37,474 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $25.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.33. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $21.88 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.