Stock Update (NYSE:BEN): Franklin Templeton Investments Announces Approval of Franklin Bissett Mutual Fund Mergers

[PR Newswire] – TORONTO, April 8, 2016 /CNW/ – Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. announced that investors have approved the proposed mergers of Franklin Bissett Canadian High Dividend Fund and Franklin Bissett Canadian … Read more on this. Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) , valued at $22.07B, started trading this morning at $37.41. During the trading session, BEN traded between $37.12 to $37.75 with a trailing 52-week range being $31.00 to $52.76. BEN shares are currently priced at 13.48x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 11.88x forward p/e ratio. The company pays shareholders $0.72 per share in dividend income per year, for a current yield of 1.86%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 15 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.63 per share, which would be $0.35 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.12 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $2.76 is a $0.53 worse when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $1.66 Billion. If reported, that would be a 17.41% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, BofA/Merrill downgraded BEN from Neutral to Underperform (Mar 15, 2016). Previously, Credit Suisse downgraded BEN from Neutral to Underperform. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $36.81, which is 1.60% below where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:BEN) Similar Articles: Market Update: Franklin Resources Inc (NYSE:BEN) – Franklin Templeton Investments Launches Franklin California Ultra-Short Tax-Free Income Fund Stock Update: Franklin Resources Inc (NYSE:BEN) – Franklin Templeton Investments Appoints Head of Global Exchange Traded Funds Stock Update: Franklin Resources Inc (NYSE:BEN) – Franklin Resources, Inc. Announces Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Results