Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) To Go Ex-Dividend on September 30th

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, August 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the closed-end fund on Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th.

Franklin Resources has decreased its dividend by an average of 6.2% annually over the last three years. Franklin Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 46.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Franklin Resources to earn $2.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 46.8%.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $20.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.18 and a 200 day moving average of $23.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 in the last ninety days. 24.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

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.