Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,990,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,999,097. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $18.83 and a 12 month high of $28.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.01.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.18.

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.