Franklin Resources (BEN) Set to Announce Earnings on Friday

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) will be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, July 26th. Analysts expect Franklin Resources to post earnings of $0.59 per share for the quarter. Persons that are interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Franklin Resources to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE BEN opened at $22.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.57 and a one year high of $30.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 70.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.