Short Interest in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Expands By 6.7%

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,150,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 23,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days. Currently, 9.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $19.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $18.83 and a 12-month high of $28.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.15.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 148.84%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $880,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after buying an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 27,259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.50 to $20.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.18.

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.