Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

BEN has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.10.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $32.66 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.01. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $36.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.3% during the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,825 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,785,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $304,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 546,393 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $18,178,000 after acquiring an additional 38,122 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 81,148 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 8,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton brand, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement-plan participants through a range of actively managed and specialized strategies.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investment strategies. Franklin Templeton offers capabilities spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset investing, private markets and other specialized areas, with investment teams and brands serving different market segments and regions.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.