Brokerages Set Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Price Target at $30.67

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.6667.

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $31.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $34.05 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.58 and a 200-day moving average of $27.59. The company has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $34.55.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $259,988,000 after acquiring an additional 816,952 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 768,707 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $192,774,000 after acquiring an additional 272,335 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $169,217,000 after purchasing an additional 243,836 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP grew its stake in 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 valued at $138,480,000 after buying an additional 2,554,105 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.