Empowered Funds LLC Acquires New Holdings in Franklin Financial Services Corp. $FRAF

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 26,190 shares of Franklin Financial Services in the second quarter, worth approximately $1.64 million and representing a 0.58% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 24.8% of the company.
• Franklin Financial Services reported quarterly EPS of $1.47, exceeding analysts’ $1.44 estimate, while revenue of $24.5 million was slightly below expectations. Shares opened at $63.20, near their 52-week high of $65.41.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34, equivalent to $1.36 annually and a 2.2% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $68 target price, despite one recent downgrade to “Hold.”

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAF - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 26,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,639,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.58% of Franklin Financial Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 391,773.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,125,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $809,504,000 after purchasing an additional 16,121,459 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Financial Services in the second quarter worth $18,311,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 109.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 98,224 shares of the company's stock worth $3,401,000 after purchasing an additional 51,407 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 64.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 75,439 shares of the company's stock worth $3,853,000 after buying an additional 29,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,681 shares of the company's stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 9,141 shares in the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Financial Services Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Franklin Financial Services stock opened at $63.20 on Friday. 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 PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.78.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $24.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.70 million. Franklin Financial Services had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 14.00%.

Franklin Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on FRAF. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Franklin Financial Services from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Franklin Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Financial Services presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Franklin Financial Services Profile

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.

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