Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates for Franklin Resources (BEN)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN):

• 4/30/2024 – Franklin Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at Evercore ISI from $29.00 to $26.00. They now have an “underperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/30/2024 – Franklin Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $30.00 to $27.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 4/30/2024 – Franklin Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $29.00 to $24.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 4/30/2024 – Franklin Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at TD Cowen from $29.00 to $25.50. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 4/17/2024 – Franklin Resources had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $25.00. They now have an “underweight” rating on the stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $22.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.62 and a 200-day moving average of $26.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 11.09%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 148.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 38,919 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,396,000 after buying an additional 414,826 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 966,212 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $23,749,000 after acquiring an additional 110,806 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 290,588 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $8,657,000 after acquiring an additional 2,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.