Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) reached a new 52-week high after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target from $22.00 to $29.00, while maintaining a neutral rating.
• Several brokerages, including TD Cowen and Goldman Sachs Group, have upgraded their ratings for Franklin Resources, with a consensus target price currently at $23.42.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32, representing an annualized yield of 5.1%, alongside a significant dividend payout ratio of 250.98%.

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $29.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Franklin Resources traded as high as $25.38 and last traded at $24.98, with a volume of 398183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.13.

BEN has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.42.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 143,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $3,415,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 9,351 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.5% during the second quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,934 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $755,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $206,956,000 after acquiring an additional 97,708 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.46. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $23.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.19.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.98%.

About Franklin Resources

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.