Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $371,000 Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 15,700 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BEN. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $33.50 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.84. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $34.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.