Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Franklin Covey from “Buy” to “Hold.” MarketBeat’s analyst consensus is also “Hold,” with an average price target of $27.50.
• Franklin Covey reported quarterly EPS of $0.62, beating the $0.59 consensus estimate, but revenue of $69.96 million fell short of the $72.24 million estimate.
• The stock opened at $14.53, below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $17.54 and $19.39, respectively.

Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Franklin Covey in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Covey currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.50.

Franklin Covey Price Performance

Franklin Covey stock opened at $14.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.39. Franklin Covey has a 1-year low of $11.16 and a 1-year high of $26.81. The stock has a market cap of $164.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.76.

Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.03. Franklin Covey had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The business had revenue of $69.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.24 million. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Covey will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Covey

In other Franklin Covey news, insider Sean Covey sold 8,000 shares of Franklin Covey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $123,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 217,426 shares in the company, valued at $3,354,883.18. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 15.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Covey

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Covey during the second quarter worth $24,191,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Covey in the second quarter valued at $12,158,000. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Covey in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,005,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Covey in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,438,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Covey by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 944,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,153,000 after buying an additional 63,268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.88% of the company's stock.

Franklin Covey Company Profile

Franklin Covey Co. is a global organizational performance and leadership company. It helps businesses, government agencies, and other organizations improve leadership, execution, productivity, trust, sales performance, and customer experience through training and consulting. The company's offerings include workshops, coaching, consulting services, and digital learning tools. Its programs draw on FranklinCovey intellectual property, including The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 4 Disciplines of Execution , and are available through its All Access Pass learning platform.

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