Patton Fund Management Inc. Takes Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. has acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc., purchasing 11,767 shares valued at approximately $281,000 during the second quarter.
• Franklin Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.28 and a yield of 5.5%.
• The company topped earnings estimates for the last quarter, reporting $0.49 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.46, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 2.2%.

Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,767 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the first quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,245 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 20,968 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.8% in the first quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 25,972 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $23.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 45.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.32. 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 results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $23.58.

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.

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