Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,160,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the March 31st total of 21,870,000 shares. Approximately 8.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 6.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 5.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 7.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 2.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 2.3 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $21.88 and a 12-month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 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.