Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 464,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 85,407 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $8,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $53,676,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Franklin Resources by 173.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $71,658,000 after buying an additional 2,241,500 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $59,557,000 after buying an additional 1,673,971 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $130,645,000 after buying an additional 1,599,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $24.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.45. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $25.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.60.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 188.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.83.

Franklin Resources 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.