Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) Stock Price Up 2% – Here’s What Happened

Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAF)’s share price shot up 2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $64.42 and last traded at $63.84. 75,789 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 154% from the average session volume of 29,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered shares of Franklin Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Franklin Financial Services Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $286.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.30 million. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 17.73%.

Franklin Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Franklin Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Franklin Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.47%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Financial Services

In other Franklin Financial Services news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total transaction of $80,822.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $323,865.30. The trade was a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Financial Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRAF. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 5.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 64.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 75,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 29,637 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 115.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 8,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Financial Services Company Profile

Franklin Financial Services, Inc (NASDAQ: FRAF) is a U.S.?listed specialty finance company that makes and acquires secured loans, with a focus on asset-based lending and mortgage warehouse financing. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, FFS Investment Company, a Maryland corporation regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Franklin Financial provides revolving lines of credit, term loans and other credit facilities secured primarily by residential and commercial mortgage loans, receivables and inventory.