Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives $30.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.6667.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 16.9% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,572 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 9.5% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 4,920 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,964,424 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $46,400,000 after acquiring an additional 533,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $787,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $34.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $34.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 100.76%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.