Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN)

FairStock Score: 57/100 — STEADY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look at Franklin Resources as a long-established asset manager with a broad product line and 10,100 employees. At the 2026-10-13 close of $31.18, FairStock calculates a P/E of 21.21, P/B of 1.35, dividend yield of 4.00%, and FCF yield of only 1.5%. The Graham Number is $27.66, so the price sits about 13% above that simple value marker; there is no margin of safety on that measure. Financial returns are modest: ROE 7.89%, ROCE 2.64%, and D/E 0.25. The Altman Z-Score of 1.08 and Piotroski F-Score of 5/9 do not suggest a fortress balance sheet. The recent filing shows improvement. In fiscal Q3 2026, the quarter ended 2026-06-30, revenue was $2.4B, net income $171.5M, and diluted EPS $0.31. A year earlier, fiscal Q3 2025 ended 2025-06-30, those were $2.1B, $92.3M, and $0.15. Yet the annual record is uneven: fiscal 2025, period ended 2025-09-30, revenue was $8.8B with net income $524.9M and EPS $0.91, below fiscal 2023, period ended 2023-09-30, revenue of $7.8B but net income $882.8M and EPS $1.72. FairStock's Lynch category is SLOW GROWER — Shrinking, with profit down 8.1% a year over five years, even though revenue grew 9.5%. That mismatch tells me the business has been losing profitability as it scaled. At this price, I see a fair-to-full valuation on earnings and assets, a high dividend that looks poorly covered by trailing free cash flow, and a long-term profit decline that must reverse before the stock becomes a true value opportunity.

In plain English: Franklin Resources runs mutual funds and investment accounts for individuals and institutions. The business looks mixed: the latest quarter was better than a year earlier, but longer-term profits have shrunk and cash generation is low. At $31.18 on 2026-10-13, the price looks a little high compared with its earnings and net assets, while the dividend is about 4%.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q3 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2025-12-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-09-30) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-09-30) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-09-30)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer