Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

BEN has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $33.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Franklin Resources has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $34.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.1% during the 3rd 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 stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.