Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Short Interest Update

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,150,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 23,560,000 shares. Approximately 9.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $19.56 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.15. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $18.83 and a 1-year high of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

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). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase 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 6.55%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BEN. Barclays dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 422,688 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $158,582,000 after buying an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $71,171,000 after buying an additional 54,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% 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.