Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,610,000 shares, a growth of 49.8% from the December 15th total of 2,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 544,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.
Several research firms have recently weighed in on FNV. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from C$205.00 to C$195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 7th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from $156.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 20th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $143.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 4th. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Monday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Franco-Nevada and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $175.21.
NYSE FNV traded down $1.44 on Monday, hitting $130.04. The stock had a trading volume of 302,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 488,230. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $136.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.63. Franco-Nevada has a 52-week low of $105.62 and a 52-week high of $163.79. The stock has a market cap of $24.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.66.
Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. The firm had revenue of $316.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.39 million. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 54.00% and a return on equity of 11.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Franco-Nevada will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.242 per share. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 8th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.24%.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FNV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 16.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,261,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,343,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,763 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the second quarter valued at $125,069,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 44.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,649,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $476,551,000 after purchasing an additional 820,331 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 109.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,263,000 after purchasing an additional 679,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 228.6% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 778,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,934,000 after purchasing an additional 541,551 shares during the last quarter. 67.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Franco-Nevada
Franco-Nevada Corp. engages in the management of gold-focused royalties and streams portfolio. It provides investors with gold price and exploration optionality while limiting exposure to many of the risks of operating companies. The company was founded on October 17, 2007 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.