Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Given New $25.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has raised the price target for Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) from $24.00 to $25.00, maintaining an "underperform" rating.
• Other firms like Wells Fargo and TD Cowen have different price targets for Franklin Resources, with estimates ranging from $21.50 up to $27.00.
• Franklin Resources reported earnings of $0.49 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, but its revenue of $2.06 billion fell short of estimates of $2.38 billion.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Evercore ISI from $24.00 to $25.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the closed-end fund's stock.

BEN has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.42.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN traded up $0.28 on Monday, reaching $25.14. 443,896 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,590,625. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.19. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $25.42. The firm has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is presently 250.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 464,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $8,937,000 after purchasing an additional 85,407 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,576 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,573,000 after buying an additional 4,530 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $811,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 230.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 291,821 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $5,921,000 after buying an additional 203,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.