Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Kettle Hill Capital Management cut its Franklin Resources stake by 47.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 357,084 shares and leaving it with 390,346 shares worth about $9.3 million.
• Several other large institutional investors increased their positions, and institutions now own 47.56% of Franklin Resources’ shares, suggesting continued strong hedge fund interest overall.
• Analysts are mixed on BEN, with an average Hold rating and $30.00 price target, while the stock traded at $32.45 and the company recently beat earnings expectations and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share.

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 47.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,346 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after selling 357,084 shares during the period. Franklin Resources makes up approximately 2.1% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Franklin Resources worth $9,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $259,988,000 after buying an additional 816,952 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $192,774,000 after acquiring an additional 272,335 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $169,217,000 after acquiring an additional 243,836 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 49.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $95,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Franklin Resources from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $31.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $32.45 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.60. The firm has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $32.93.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The business's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 100.76%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm's core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton's product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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