Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) Stock Price Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Franklin Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ:FRAFGet Free Report)’s stock price shot up 2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $64.42 and last traded at $63.84. Approximately 75,789 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 154% from the average session volume of 29,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on FRAF. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Franklin Financial Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Hovde Group lowered Franklin Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Franklin Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Franklin Financial Services

Franklin Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $285.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.10.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAFGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.30 million. Franklin Financial Services had a net margin of 17.73% and a return on equity of 14.13%.

Franklin Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Franklin Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Franklin Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.47%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Financial Services

In other Franklin Financial Services news, EVP Steven D. Butz sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.73, for a total value of $80,822.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $323,865.30. This trade represents a 19.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRAF. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Financial Services by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Franklin Financial Services by 84.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Franklin Financial Services by 5.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Financial Services by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 64,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Franklin Financial Services by 7.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Financial Services Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Franklin Financial Services, Inc (NASDAQ: FRAF) is a U.S.‐listed specialty finance company that makes and acquires secured loans, with a focus on asset-based lending and mortgage warehouse financing. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, FFS Investment Company, a Maryland corporation regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Franklin Financial provides revolving lines of credit, term loans and other credit facilities secured primarily by residential and commercial mortgage loans, receivables and inventory.

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