Jefferies Reiterates Hold Rating on Franklin Resources (BEN)

Jefferies & Company is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Hold rating on shares of Franklin Resources BEN; it has a price target on the stock of $110.00, The Jefferies analysts noted that BEN's top line growth continues to be driven by solid investment performance and strong fixed income flows. Excluding a previously announced international equity mandate, flows were modestly positive within international equities as well as the hybrid segment. They added that BEN's Templeton Global Bond Fund is up Sharply in September. The Templeton Global Bond Fund, with total AUM of $60B+, generated investment performance of approximately 3.8%, whereas it benchmark, the Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index, returned only 0.11%. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “Our $110 price target, is based upon a 15x multiple of our CY2011 estimate. BEN is currently trading at 17.1x and 14.5x our CY2010 and CY2011 estimates, essentially in line with peer group averages.”