SG Americas Securities LLC Has $5.39 Million Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 824.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,917 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 207,734 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $5,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BEN. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $206,956,000 after acquiring an additional 97,708 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,236,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,192,000 after purchasing an additional 80,146 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,051,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.4% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,904,475 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $69,272,000 after purchasing an additional 175,597 shares during the period. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 16.7% in the second quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 2,843,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $67,826,000 after purchasing an additional 407,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $25.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 145.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BEN. Barclays increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.09.

About Franklin Resources

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.