Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.18.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,594 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 110.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,279,000 after purchasing an additional 851,442 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.08 on Monday. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.41. 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 50-day simple moving average of $20.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.84%.

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.