Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 47.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 390,346 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 357,084 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources comprises approximately 2.1% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $9,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 129.1% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $32.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.60. The company has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $32.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

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

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.