Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

BEN has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.10.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $32.64 on Friday. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.96.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Community Bank raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 37,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.0% during the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,194 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 12.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,671 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.6% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 67,747 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement plans through a broad range of strategies and investment vehicles.

Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton manages strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and other specialized areas, while also providing investment research, portfolio management and wealth-management services.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.