Franklin Resources’ (BEN) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $38.00 target price on the closed-end fund’s stock, up from their prior target price of $37.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.78.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $36.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.54. Franklin Resources has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $36.79.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 6th. The closed-end fund reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.17. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.42% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,418,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $37,742,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $2,429,000. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth about $2,500,000. Finally, Kinloch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $5,737,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management company that operates under the Franklin Templeton name. It offers investment products and services to individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and other clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts. The company invests across a range of asset classes and strategies, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments. Its services also include retirement solutions and wealth management.