UBS Group Initiates Coverage on Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)

Research analysts at UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the closed-end fund’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 24.01% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.6%

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $32.26. The stock had a trading volume of 175,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,769,394. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.31. Franklin Resources has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. The stock has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at $152,692,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.6% in the first quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $83,204,000 after acquiring an additional 153,422 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.