Analysts Set Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) PT at $32.00

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $32.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.47 and its 200 day moving average is $28.58. Franklin Resources has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $34.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Tema ETFs LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 5,635 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $908,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 87,266 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at about $272,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 14.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,605 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during 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.