Engineers Gate Manager LP Acquires New Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 263,301 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $8,760,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. United Community Bank increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 37,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 56,151 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.0% during the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,194 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 1,512 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $33.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.41. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. The stock has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement plans through a broad range of strategies and investment vehicles.

Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton manages strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and other specialized areas, while also providing investment research, portfolio management and wealth-management services.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.