Evercore ISI Cuts Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $26.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.05.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.01. The company had a trading volume of 803,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,644,141. The stock has a market cap of $12.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 14,682 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,622 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.4% in the third quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,974 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.