Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives $33.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $32.70 on Friday. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $36.28. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $33.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at $152,692,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $98,168,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.