Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $32.55 and last traded at $32.6660, with a volume of 1842 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BEN. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley raised Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.52. The company has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $259,988,000 after purchasing an additional 816,952 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 768,707 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $192,774,000 after purchasing an additional 272,335 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $169,217,000 after purchasing an additional 243,836 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.8% in the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after buying an additional 2,554,105 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Franklin Resources

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.