Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on FNV. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on Franco-Nevada from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franco-Nevada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.25.

Franco-Nevada Trading Down 0.6%

Franco-Nevada stock opened at $242.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.77 billion, a PE ratio of 42.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.47. Franco-Nevada has a 12 month low of $152.89 and a 12 month high of $285.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.68.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $597.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $542.02 million. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 61.01%.The company’s revenue was up 86.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada will post 7.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 112.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

About Franco-Nevada

Franco-Nevada Corporation is a Toronto-based royalty and streaming company that specializes in securing and managing long-term interests in mining properties. The firm focuses primarily on precious metals, particularly gold, while also holding interests related to silver, copper, platinum-group metals and select base metals. Rather than operating mines directly, Franco-Nevada acquires royalty and streaming agreements that entitle it to a percentage of production or revenue from producing and developing assets in exchange for upfront or staged financing.

The company’s business model centers on providing capital to mining companies in return for a sustained share of production or metal revenue, which can reduce exposure to operating and capital cost risks typical of mine operators.