Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 on April 11th

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,RTT News reports. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Franklin Resources has raised its dividend by an average of 3.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 28 years. Franklin Resources has a payout ratio of 53.6% meaning 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 Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $20.65 on Thursday. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.61. The stock 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.79 and a 200 day moving average of $20.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.41%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

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.