Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

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

Franklin Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRAF opened at $62.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.77. Franklin Financial Services has a one year low of $38.52 and a one year high of $64.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.98 million, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of -0.02. 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 (NASDAQ:FRAF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.14. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 17.73%.The firm had revenue of $23.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.30 million.

Insider Activity at Franklin Financial Services

In other news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 5,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $323,865.30. The trade was a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Financial Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 84.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 5.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 64,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,241,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Franklin Financial Services by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Financial Services

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.