Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 99.1% during the first quarter, acquiring over 2.6 million additional shares.
• Franklin Resources reported quarterly earnings of $0.49 per share, surpassing analyst estimates, but revenue decreased 2.2% year-over-year at $2.06 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing an annual yield of 5.0% with a high dividend payout ratio of 250.98%.

Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 99.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,237,650 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 2,607,460 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources accounts for 3.8% of Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. owned about 1.00% of Franklin Resources worth $100,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,985,065 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $230,713,000 after acquiring an additional 263,619 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 20.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $139,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,419 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 173.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $71,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 9.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,392,081 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $65,298,000 after purchasing an additional 305,736 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.96. 4,708,345 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,957,070. The stock's fifty day moving average is $24.93 and its 200 day moving average is $21.90. The stock has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.98%.

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.