Strs Ohio Takes Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 172,963 shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) for approximately $3.33 million during the 1st quarter.
• Various hedge funds have made significant moves with Franklin Resources stock, including Manchester Capital Management increasing its stake by 49.9% during the same period.
• Franklin Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, set to be paid on October 10th, indicating a yield of 5.3% despite a high payout ratio of 250.98%.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 172,963 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $3,330,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 99.1% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 5,237,650 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $100,825,000 after buying an additional 2,607,460 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 173.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $59,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,971 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 20.3% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,878,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,873,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,412,719. The firm has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.89 and a 200-day moving average of $22.19. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 250.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

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.