Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives $32.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $33.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.69. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $34.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 100.76%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BEN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $98,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554,105 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,384,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,737,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $89,278,000 after buying an additional 2,078,369 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.