Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in Franklin Financial Services Corp. $FRAF

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAF) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,639,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Franklin Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Franklin Financial Services by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 84.1% during the third 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Financial Services during the second quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $100,000. Institutional investors own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRAF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Financial Services from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Franklin Financial Services Price Performance

FRAF opened at $63.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Franklin Financial Services Corp. has a 1 year low of $43.47 and a 1 year high of $65.41. The firm has a market cap of $284.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of -0.01.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Franklin Financial Services had a return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 18.20%.The firm had revenue of $24.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.70 million.

Franklin Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Franklin Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 24.77%.

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.