Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, June 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BEN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,049 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,850,000 after buying an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 169.3% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,909 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,189 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 7,634 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 509,171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 174,579 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $31.17 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.38. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $32.47.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.