The Net Flow Battle At Franklin Resources

In a report published Friday, Morgan Stanley analysts maintained an Equal-Weight rating on

, with a price target of $60. The analysts estimate +$0.2B of net long-term inflows for the company in March, with the quarter totaling -$1.4B. "A welcomed turnaround in global fixed income where steady outflows have occurred provided enough firepower to come in better than our full quarter ests (- $1.7B)." Franklin Resources is still to prove that it can sustain inflows over several months. "We also like what we saw in the equity bucket where we estimate that BEN showed +$0.5B inflows in the month of March, with the majority coming from global/int'l. We will look to this to be a secondary driver of flows in 2Q," the analysts said. Morgan Stanley considers the company to be well positioned for "any long-term sustained retail investor re-risking," in view of its global platform and robust fund performance. In another report Jefferies analysts maintained a Hold rating on the company with a price target of $55. BEN reported March month-end AUM of $880.6B, versus the analysts' projection of $885.9B. AUM declined by 1.5 percent m/m, from $894.1B at the end of Feb. The slide reflects negative market performance, an estimated negative currency impact and roughly -$3-5B of net long-term outflows, mostly from global equity and global fixed income. "For the quarter, we now estimate net outflows to be in the range -$7-9B vs. - $4B previously," the report added.