Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

BEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:BEN opened at $23.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $28.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.46.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $98,168,000. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $76,051,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth about $51,384,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,737,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $89,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078,369 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.