As previously reported, Raymond James analyst Daniel Cardenas upgraded Franklin Financial to Outperform with a price target of $32 after meeting with its management earlier this week. The analyst notes that while the company remains in the "early stages of a strategic shift toward balancing growth and profitability", the meetings gave him greater confidence that the initial groundwork set out in Q4 is "bearing fruit". Cardenas further states that the efforts by Franklin Financial to strengthen its sales culture and grow core deposits should improve its risk profile, adding that the valuation on the stock is "attractive" and the discount multiple valuation gap relative to the company's peer group will narrow.