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

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on FRAF. Hovde Group cut Franklin Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Franklin Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of FRAF opened at $63.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Franklin Financial Services has a 1-year low of $38.52 and a 1-year high of $64.88. The stock has a market cap of $287.32 million, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of -0.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.41.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 18.20%.The company had revenue of $24.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.70 million.

Franklin Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Franklin Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Financial Services

In other 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 transaction of $80,822.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $323,865.30. This represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 5.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Financial Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Franklin Financial Services by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 7.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 115.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 8,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.