Brokerages Set Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) PT at $20.18

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.18.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BEN. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 50.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 32,904 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 valued at $71,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 83,401 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 870,318 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $19,432,000 after buying an additional 316,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Franklin Resources by 158.8% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 40,765 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 25,014 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.56. The company had a trading volume of 3,811,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,070,066. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $21.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.15. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41. 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 has a twelve month low of $18.83 and a twelve month high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is currently 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.