OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Increases Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 39.6% in Q1, acquiring 27,316 shares, bringing its total to 96,252 shares valued at approximately $1.85 million.
• Franklin Resources recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.49 for the quarter, exceeding estimates but showing a decline in revenue on a year-over-year basis.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, with a significant payout ratio of 250.98% and an annual yield of 5.0%.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 39.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,252 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 27,316 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 143,354 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 12,386 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 432,620 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $8,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,757 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 441,559 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $8,959,000 after purchasing an additional 196,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,086,345 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $62,622,000 after purchasing an additional 297,057 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8%

BEN traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,108,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,438,888. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08. The stock has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a PE ratio of 50.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.51. The business's 50-day moving average is $24.86 and its 200-day moving average is $21.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio 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.