Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV Stake Reduced by Covea Finance

Covea Finance trimmed its holdings in Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 32,800 shares during the quarter. Franco-Nevada accounts for about 1.4% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Covea Finance owned 0.11% of Franco-Nevada worth $43,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,216,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,828,821,000 after purchasing an additional 129,898 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Franco-Nevada by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,560,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,237,510,000 after purchasing an additional 454,175 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 26.4% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,049,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $901,092,000 after buying an additional 846,950 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 35.2% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,220,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $528,289,000 after buying an additional 838,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Franco-Nevada in the second quarter worth approximately $460,218,000. Institutional investors own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FNV. Zacks Research raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Franco-Nevada from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $228.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franco-Nevada currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.25.

Franco-Nevada Stock Performance

Franco-Nevada stock opened at $222.33 on Friday. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a 52 week low of $140.03 and a 52 week high of $285.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $252.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.20.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $597.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $542.02 million. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 61.01% and a return on equity of 15.62%. The company’s revenue was up 86.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Franco-Nevada’s payout ratio is presently 30.56%.

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.