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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.18.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 50.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 32,904 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $71,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 83,401 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 57.1% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 870,318 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $19,432,000 after purchasing an additional 316,211 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 158.8% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 40,765 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 25,014 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8 %

Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.56. 3,811,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,070,066. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.15. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61. The stock 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.

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

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a $0.32 dividend. 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%. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 148.84%.

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.