Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) Price Target Raised to $68.00

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Hovde Group from $64.00 to $68.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Hovde Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Franklin Financial Services Price Performance

NASDAQ FRAF opened at $63.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.49. Franklin Financial Services has a 52 week low of $38.52 and a 52 week high of $64.88. The stock has a market cap of $286.46 million, a price-to-earnings 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 quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 18.20%.The company had revenue of $24.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.70 million.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Financial Services news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total value of $80,822.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 391,773.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,125,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $809,504,000 after buying an additional 16,121,459 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 115.8% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 8,386 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $100,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Franklin Financial Services

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.