Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target Cut to $26.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price target cut by Evercore ISI from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a market perform rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Franklin Resources from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE BEN opened at $22.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.37. The company has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $21.88 and a 12 month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.43%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 47.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,710 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 15,914 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 14.4% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 65,325 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 8,216 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 443,545 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after buying an additional 6,867 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 27.5% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 135,753 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,337,000 after buying an additional 29,300 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 13.8% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the period. 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.