Franklin Resources, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share by the closed-end fund on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Franklin Resources has increased its dividend by an average of 3.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 28 consecutive years. Franklin Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 53.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Franklin Resources to earn $2.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.0%.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BEN opened at $20.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $18.83 and a 12-month high of $28.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.93. 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 (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

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.