Goldman Sachs turns bullish on select asset managers, upgrades BEN, AMG

Investing.com -- Goldman Sachs has turned bullish on select traditional asset managers, upgrading Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) and Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG) to Buy, citing improving organic growth prospects and compelling valuations.

The bank also shifted its view on AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB) and WisdomTree, Goldman Sachs said in a note published Monday.

“We upgrade BEN to Buy from Neutral with a 12-month price target of $29,” wrote Goldman analysts, pointing to the company’s growing alternatives platform and “moderating outflows from Traditional products leading to a break-even organic base fee growth.”

The note also highlighted cost reductions at Western Asset and projected BEN’s EPS growth to accelerate to 8% CAGR through 2027. At 9x 2026E P/E, Goldman believes the improvement “is yet to be fully captured in the stock’s valuation.”

Affiliated Managers Group also earned an upgrade to Buy, with Goldman citing “an inflection in organic base fee growth” driven by AQR platform flows and sustained momentum in private markets.

The firm raised its price target on AMG to $218, projecting 7% annual core EBITDA growth in 2026–27. “We see runway to high-single-digit total EBITDA growth,” Goldman added.

Meanwhile, AllianceBernstein was downgraded to Neutral, with Goldman noting signs of slowing growth in both equities and fixed income. “We see limited scope for the stock to outperform,” analysts wrote.

WisdomTree was upgraded to Neutral from Sell, with analysts citing “broadening out and acceleration of flows” and a more stable fee trajectory. Goldman raised its price target to $11.90, expecting mid-to-high single-digit organic base fee growth through 2027.

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