Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) to Issue $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Franklin Resources has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 45 years. Franklin Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 52.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Franklin Resources to earn $2.42 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 52.9%.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $19.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.