Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $21.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.25 and a 200 day moving average of $21.95. The firm has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 144.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BEN shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Insider Activity

In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 12,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 18,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,055. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.