Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) issued its earnings results on Monday. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 6.4 %

BEN stock opened at $23.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.79 and a 200-day moving average of $26.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.30%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

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.