Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Franco-Nevada from $283.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Franco-Nevada in a report on Sunday, December 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.25.

Franco-Nevada Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of FNV opened at $257.75 on Tuesday. Franco-Nevada has a 1-year low of $140.03 and a 1-year high of $285.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $251.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.75, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.47.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.18. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 61.01% and a return on equity of 15.62%. The company had revenue of $597.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $542.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Franco-Nevada’s revenue was up 86.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio is 30.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,330,234 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,726,741,000 after acquiring an additional 113,916 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Franco-Nevada by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,441,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,542,402,000 after purchasing an additional 842,132 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Franco-Nevada by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,560,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,237,510,000 after purchasing an additional 454,175 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,123,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,062,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,808,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $582,177,000 after purchasing an additional 260,793 shares during the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franco-Nevada Company Profile

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.