Franklin Resources, Inc. vs Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF — how do they compare? Franklin Resources, Inc. trades at $33.6 (market cap $16.95B), while Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF trades at $97.08. The key difference: Franklin Resources, Inc. pays a 3.96% dividend while Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF pays none, and Franklin Resources, Inc. is trading nearer its 52-week high, Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| BEN | VNQ | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $16.95B | — |
Sector | Financials | — |
52-Week High | $35.77 | $100.95 |
52-Week Low | $21.18 | $87.00 |
Enterprise Value | $29.90B | — |
Dividend Yield | 3.96% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Franklin Resources (BEN) trades at $33.56, up 0.12% on the day, with a bullish technical signal and consistent earnings beats. The company reported record AUM of $1.80 trillion as of July 31, 2026, driven by strong inflows and diversification efforts. Valuation ratios include a P/E of 22.69 and P/S of 1.85, while profitability shows a net income margin of 8.72%.
The outlook is positive with analyst consensus price target of $36.50, though risks include volatile cash flows and competitive pressures. Upside potential hinges on sustained AUM growth and margin expansion, while investor sentiment is mixed with 59% hold ratings amid recent institutional selling.
VNQ, the Vanguard Real Estate ETF, trades at $97.13, up 0.02% on the day, with a bearish technical signal driven by moving averages and neutral oscillators. The ETF offers a dividend of $0.86 scheduled for June 2026, but key valuation ratios like P/E and P/B are unavailable. Recent news highlights institutional selling and comparisons with global real estate ETFs, emphasizing VNQ's U.S. REIT focus and low fees.
Outlook: VNQ faces headwinds from bearish technicals and institutional outflows, but its low expense ratio and U.S. real estate exposure provide stability. Risks include interest rate sensitivity and underperformance versus broader markets, as noted in long-term return comparisons. Investors should weigh dividend income against sector volatility and macroeconomic factors.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Franklin Resources provides investment services for individual and institutional investors. At the end of August 2022, Franklin had $1.388 trillion in managed assets, composed primarily of equity (32%), fixed-income (38%), multi-asset/balanced (10%) funds, alternatives (16%), and money market funds (4%). Distribution tends to be weighted more toward retail investors (49% of AUM) investors, as opposed to institutional (49%) and high-net-worth (2%) clients. Franklin is also one of the more global firms of the U.S.-based asset managers with more than 35% of its AUM invested in global/international strategies and 25% of managed assets sourced from clients domiciled outside the United States.
Read more on BEN →The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index, an index made up of stocks of large, mid-size, and small US companies within the real estate sector. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by seeking to invest all of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, in order to hold each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. It is non-diversified.
Read more on VNQ →