Franklin Financial Services Corp. $FRAF Shares Acquired by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAF) by 115.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,627 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,386 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Franklin Financial Services were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRAF. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Franklin Financial Services by 391,773.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,125,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $809,504,000 after buying an additional 16,121,459 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 109.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 51,407 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Franklin Financial Services by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 69,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,496,000 after purchasing an additional 5,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 333.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 45,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 34,982 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Financial Services Stock Performance

FRAF stock opened at $63.80 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.49. Franklin Financial Services Corp. has a 12-month low of $38.52 and a 12-month high of $64.88. The firm has a market cap of $286.46 million, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Franklin Financial Services had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $24.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.70 million.

Franklin Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Franklin Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total transaction of $80,822.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,865.30. This represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FRAF shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Hovde Group downgraded shares of Franklin Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Franklin Financial Services Company Profile

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.