Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAF) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in Franklin Financial Services surged 76.3% in June to 102,006 shares, with about 2.4% of the stock now sold short and a short-interest ratio of 2.6 days.
• Company insider activity included EVP Steven D. Butz selling 1,400 shares at $57.73 each, reducing his ownership by nearly 20%.
• The stock rose 2.1% to $63.49 and has traded near its 52-week high, while the company recently beat quarterly earnings estimates with EPS of $1.48 versus $1.34 expected.

Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAF - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 102,006 shares, a growth of 76.3% from the June 15th total of 57,861 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 38,914 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Franklin Financial Services

In related news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of Franklin Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total value of $80,822.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $323,865.30. This trade represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Franklin Financial Services by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,319 shares of the company's stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Franklin Financial Services by 64.7% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 75,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,853,000 after buying an additional 29,637 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 7.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 115.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 8,386 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,951 shares of the company's stock worth $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.80% of the company's stock.

Franklin Financial Services Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ FRAF opened at $63.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Franklin Financial Services has a one year low of $38.52 and a one year high of $64.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.07 million, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of -0.02.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.14. Franklin Financial Services had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 14.13%. The firm had revenue of $23.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.30 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRAF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Franklin Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Hovde Group downgraded Franklin Financial Services from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

About Franklin Financial Services

Franklin Financial Services, Inc NASDAQ: FRAF is a U.S.‐listed specialty finance company that makes and acquires secured loans, with a focus on asset-based lending and mortgage warehouse financing. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, FFS Investment Company, a Maryland corporation regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Franklin Financial provides revolving lines of credit, term loans and other credit facilities secured primarily by residential and commercial mortgage loans, receivables and inventory.

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