Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV Stock Holdings Lessened by Covea Finance

Covea Finance reduced its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 208,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 32,800 shares during the quarter. Franco-Nevada comprises approximately 1.4% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Covea Finance’s holdings in Franco-Nevada were worth $43,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Franco-Nevada in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $460,218,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,363,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $525,925,000 after buying an additional 1,020,509 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,049,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $901,092,000 after buying an additional 846,950 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,220,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $528,289,000 after acquiring an additional 838,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada during the 2nd quarter valued at $80,621,000. 77.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franco-Nevada Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of Franco-Nevada stock opened at $222.33 on Friday. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a 12-month low of $140.03 and a 12-month high of $285.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $252.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.60, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.45.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 86.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Franco-Nevada’s payout ratio is 30.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FNV. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $228.00 target price on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Zacks Research raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Franco-Nevada from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franco-Nevada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.25.

Franco-Nevada 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.