Franklin Resources (BEN) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $14.53B
• Dividend Yield: 5.33%
• Average Volume (3M): 5.56M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 25.7
• Beta (1Y): 0.93
• Revenue Growth: 2.31%
• EPS Growth: 5.71%
• Country: US
• Employees: 10,000
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Asset Management
• EPS (TTM): 0.70
• Shares Outstanding: 520,763,400
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 4,452,225
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 5,557,148
• PEG Ratio: 3.21
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.99
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.36
• P/FCF Ratio: 13.05
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.71
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 2.81
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 3.49
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 16.65
• 1Y Price Target: $26.83
• Price Target Upside: -3.04% Downside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Sell
• Number of Analyst Covering: 6
• EPS Forecast (FY): 2.59
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $6.98B

• Rating: 69 Neutral
• Price Target: $30.00 ▲(8.42% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/06/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/06/26

BEN scores highest on improving operational momentum and guidance (record inflows and a credible cost-savings/margin roadmap), reinforced by strong technical trend signals. The score is held back by still-compressed profitability/ROE and meaningful leverage, while valuation is supported by the dividend but tempered by a higher P/E given current margin levels.

Positive Factors

Record long-term inflows & rising AUM

Sustained, large-scale long-term inflows and rising AUM build a durable fee base and diversify revenue across clients and products. Persistent net flows improve recurring management-fee revenue and scale economics, supporting structural revenue growth and resilience across market cycles.

Alternatives and private markets expansion

Meaningful scale in alternatives and private markets increases higher‑margin fee mix and reduces public-market cyclicality. Acquisitions and fundraising momentum deepen product capabilities (credit, private equity, real assets), positioning the firm to capture structural allocation shifts toward alternatives.

Solid cash generation and FCF conversion

Robust operating cash flow and high free‑cash‑flow conversion underpin capital return capacity and fund strategic investments. Reliable cash generation provides durable flexibility for dividends, buybacks, and funding the $200M cost program without destabilizing operations in coming quarters.

Negative Factors

Compressed profitability and low ROE

Margins and return on equity remain well below historical levels, signaling weaker operating leverage and capital efficiency. Persistently compressed profitability limits reinvestment and shareholder returns unless cost savings and higher-margin product mix sustainably restore prior-cycle margins over multiple quarters.

Meaningful leverage on the balance sheet

Elevated leverage reduces financial flexibility to pursue M&A or absorb shocks and increases interest and refinancing risk. If margins remain depressed, leverage amplifies earnings variability and constrains the firm's ability to opportunistically invest in growth or accelerate buybacks without increasing balance-sheet risk.

Western Asset outflows and integration/overhang

Persistent client outflows and remediation needs at Western Asset create ongoing revenue and margin pressure, requiring management support and weighing consolidated performance. Even with DOJ issues easing, restoration of client confidence and performance could take multiple quarters, dragging durable flows and margins.

Franklin Resources Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

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. The firm invests in the public equity, fixed income, and alternative markets. Franklin Resources, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in San Mateo, California with an additional office in Hyderabad, India.

How the Company Makes Money

Franklin Resources primarily generates revenue through the management fees it charges for its investment products and services. These fees are typically calculated as a percentage of assets under management (AUM) and vary depending on the type of fund or account. Additionally, the company earns performance fees from certain investment products that outperform predetermined benchmarks. Franklin Templeton also benefits from sales of mutual funds and related investment products, with revenue boosted by distribution fees and commissions from financial intermediaries. Significant partnerships with financial advisors and institutions further enhance its distribution capabilities, contributing to its earnings. Furthermore, the company may experience fluctuations in revenue based on market performance and changes in AUM, which are influenced by investor sentiment and overall market conditions.

Franklin Resources Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Fundamentals are mixed: revenue is sharply higher TTM, and free cash flow is solid (~$883M) with decent conversion, but profitability and returns have compressed versus 2021–2022 (TTM net margin ~6%, ROE ~4%). Balance sheet capitalization is adequate, though leverage is meaningful (debt-to-equity ~1.10), limiting flexibility if margins don’t recover.

Income Statement

TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) revenue is up sharply (growth rate ~86%), but profitability is modest for the period: net margin is ~6% and EBIT margin ~10%. Looking across the annual history, margins and net income have compressed materially from the 2021–2022 peak (net margin ~16–22% then) to the 2024–TTM range (~5–6%), indicating weaker operating leverage and/or a tougher fee/market environment. The positive is that revenue has stabilized and improved recently, but the key watch item is whether margins can recover toward prior-cycle levels.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet looks generally stable with a large equity base (~$12.1B) versus total assets (~$32.5B), but leverage appears meaningful with debt-to-equity around ~1.10 in the most recent periods. Returns on equity are currently low (~4% in TTM and 2025 annual), well below the stronger 2021–2022 levels (~11–16%), suggesting reduced earnings power relative to the capital base. Overall: adequate capitalization, but elevated leverage and softened returns weigh on the quality of the balance-sheet profile.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is solid: TTM operating cash flow is ~$956M and free cash flow is ~$883M. Free cash flow conversion is decent (free cash flow is ~86% of net income), supporting earnings quality. However, cash-flow momentum is mixed—TTM free cash flow growth is negative and operating cash flow covers only ~57% of net income in the provided data, pointing to some variability in cash realization versus accounting profits. Net-net, cash flow is a relative strength, but not consistently improving.

Breakdown	TTM	Sep 2025	Sep 2024	Sep 2023	Sep 2022	Sep 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	8.85B	8.77B	8.48B	7.85B	8.28B	8.43B
Gross Profit	7.12B	7.05B	6.79B	6.35B	6.85B	7.00B
EBITDA	1.49B	1.41B	1.38B	1.91B	2.21B	2.84B
Net Income	616.80M	524.90M	464.80M	882.80M	1.29B	1.83B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	32.55B	32.37B	32.46B	30.12B	28.06B	24.17B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	3.48B	3.57B	4.41B	4.40B	4.78B	4.65B
Total Debt	14.21B	13.30B	13.09B	11.75B	9.36B	7.59B
Total Liabilities	18.16B	18.18B	17.90B	16.55B	14.24B	11.42B
Stockholders Equity	12.13B	12.08B	12.51B	11.92B	11.47B	11.22B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	873.50M	911.60M	794.20M	940.40M	1.87B	1.17B
Operating Cash Flow	956.20M	1.07B	971.30M	1.09B	1.96B	1.25B
Investing Cash Flow	-2.00B	-2.34B	-2.42B	-3.61B	-3.33B	-2.62B
Financing Cash Flow	851.90M	452.40M	1.42B	2.11B	1.58B	2.03B

Franklin Resources Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 27.67
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For BEN, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 27.67 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 26.92, above the 50-day MA of 25.39, and above the 200-day MA of 23.44, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.65 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 59.86 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 55.14 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for BEN.

Franklin Resources Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
SEIC	76 Outperform	$9.95B	14.43	29.38%	1.18%	9.33%	33.17%
HLNE	73 Outperform	$6.87B	22.10	30.59%	1.52%	13.01%	21.96%
BEN	69 Neutral	$14.53B	25.69	4.58%	5.33%	2.31%	5.71%
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
IVZ	66 Neutral	$11.90B	―	-2.10%	3.08%	6.64%	―
OTF	63 Neutral	$5.91B	7.18	12.35%	5.30%	―	―
STEP	52 Neutral	$6.78B	―	―	2.17%	92.02%	-1386.34%

Franklin Resources Corporate Events

Franklin Resources Shareholders Approve Equity Plans and Directors

At its annual meeting of stockholders held on February 3, 2026, Franklin Resources, Inc. secured shareholder approval to significantly expand its equity-based compensation capacity, increasing the share pool under its 1998 Employee Stock Investment Plan by 5 million shares and under its 2002 Universal Stock Incentive Plan by 25 million shares, moves that underscore the company’s ongoing use of stock-based incentives to attract, retain and reward employees and executives. Shareholders also elected all 11 director nominees, ratified PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent auditor for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and gave advisory approval to the compensation of the company’s named executive officers, reinforcing management’s governance framework and signaling continued investor support for the firm’s leadership and compensation policies.

The most recent analyst rating on (BEN) stock is a Hold with a $28.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Franklin Resources stock, see the BEN Stock Forecast page.

Franklin Resources Posts Strong Profit Growth and Inflows

On January 30, 2026, Franklin Resources reported a sharp improvement in profitability for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, with net income rising to $255.5 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, more than doubling the prior quarter and significantly above the year-earlier period, while operating income climbed to $281.0 million and operating margin strengthened to 12.1%. The firm highlighted continued business momentum driven by $28.0 billion in long-term net inflows and record assets under management, underpinned by strong demand across equity, multi-asset, alternatives, ETFs, retail SMAs and the Canvas platform; alternatives remained a major growth engine with $10.8 billion raised, including substantial private market capital and a $4.6 billion close for Lexington Co-Investment Partners VI, alongside the integration of Apera Asset Management into its expanded Benefit Street Partners-branded credit platform and resilient performance at Clarion Partners, reinforcing Franklin’s strategic push into alternatives and its positioning to benefit from structural shifts in both public and private markets while maintaining expense discipline.

The most recent analyst rating on (BEN) stock is a Sell with a $21.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Franklin Resources stock, see the BEN Stock Forecast page.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend, Authorizes Stock Buyback

On December 11, 2025, Franklin Resources amended its credit agreement, increasing its senior unsecured revolving credit facility commitments by $400 million to a total of $1.5 billion, signaling enhanced financial flexibility for future operations. Additionally, on December 17, 2025, the company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share and authorized the repurchase of up to 20.8 million additional shares, bringing the total authorization to 40 million shares. These initiatives reflect a commitment to shareholder returns and stable financial growth.

The most recent analyst rating on (BEN) stock is a Sell with a $21.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Franklin Resources stock, see the BEN Stock Forecast page.

Franklin Resources DOJ Investigation Resolved Without Charges

Franklin Resources, Inc. recently addressed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into past trade allocations involving treasury derivatives managed by its subsidiary, Western Asset Management Company, LLC. On December 13, 2025, the DOJ indicated it is ready to resolve the investigation without filing criminal charges against Western Asset, acknowledging the company’s full cooperation in the matter.

The most recent analyst rating on (BEN) stock is a Sell with a $23.47 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Franklin Resources stock, see the BEN Stock Forecast page.

Franklin Resources Reports Q4 2025 Financial Results

On November 7, 2025, Franklin Resources, Inc. announced its preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending September 30, 2025. The company reported a net income of $117.6 million for the quarter and $524.9 million for the fiscal year, showing significant improvement from the previous year. The company experienced growth in long-term inflows across all asset classes, reaching $84.6 billion, and maintained a strong institutional pipeline. Despite a decrease in operating income compared to the previous quarter, Franklin Templeton achieved record growth in retail SMAs, ETFs, and alternative AUM, highlighting its strategic focus on diversification and expansion in both public and private markets.

The most recent analyst rating on (BEN) stock is a Sell with a $23.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Franklin Resources stock, see the BEN Stock Forecast page.