Wall Street Zen Downgrades Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) to Hold

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on FRAF. Hovde Group cut Franklin Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

Franklin Financial Services Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ FRAF opened at $62.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.64 million, a P/E ratio of 11.34 and a beta of -0.02. Franklin Financial Services has a 52-week low of $38.52 and a 52-week high of $64.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 17.73%.The company had revenue of $24.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.70 million.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Financial Services news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total value of $80,822.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,865.30. This trade represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 391,773.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,125,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $809,504,000 after buying an additional 16,121,459 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 109.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,401,000 after purchasing an additional 51,407 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 333.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 45,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 34,982 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 64.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 75,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 29,637 shares during the period. Finally, Informed Momentum Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $1,231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Financial Services Company Profile

Franklin Financial Services, Inc (NASDAQ: FRAF) is a U.S.‐listed specialty finance company that makes and acquires secured loans, with a focus on asset-based lending and mortgage warehouse financing. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, FFS Investment Company, a Maryland corporation regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Franklin Financial provides revolving lines of credit, term loans and other credit facilities secured primarily by residential and commercial mortgage loans, receivables and inventory.