Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys 10,605 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 21.4%, acquiring an additional 10,605 shares, bringing its total holdings to 60,150 shares valued at approximately $1.16 million.
• Franklin Resources reported a net margin of 4.65% for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.47, matching analyst expectations but indicating a year-over-year revenue decline of 6.2%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 5.21%, with a notably high payout ratio of 188.24%.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 21.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,150 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 10,605 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,544 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.92.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $23.95. 8,425,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,801,353. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.00. The firm has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.46. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $25.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 4.65%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 188.24%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.