Citigroup Inc. Increases Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, acquiring an additional 88,727 shares, resulting in a total of 486,806 shares owned, valued at approximately $9.37 million.
• Several hedge funds have also significantly increased their investments in Franklin Resources, with CoreCap Advisors boosting their stake by 147.1% and GeoWealth Management growing theirs by 350.4%.
• Franklin Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.1%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 250.98%.

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 486,806 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 88,727 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.09% of Franklin Resources worth $9,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BEN. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BEN. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded down $0.2450 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.5750. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,063,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,507,923. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.28 and a 200-day moving average of $21.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.19, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.08.

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

Franklin Resources Profile

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.