Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price points to a potential upside of 3.80% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.3%

BEN stock opened at $26.98 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.06. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $27.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $14.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $76,051,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $60,618,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $51,384,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,293,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $95,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.