Ashford Capital Management Inc. Has $18.63 Million Stake in Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV

Ashford Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 89,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 36,395 shares during the period. Franco-Nevada comprises about 2.1% of Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Franco-Nevada were worth $18,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FNV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Franco-Nevada by 600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FNV has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franco-Nevada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. TD upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $292.00 to $291.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Franco-Nevada from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.00.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

Shares of FNV opened at $230.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $235.65 and a 200-day moving average of $236.43. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a one year low of $152.89 and a one year high of $285.67. The company has a market cap of $44.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.34.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.29. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 65.12% and a return on equity of 18.10%. The company had revenue of $650.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 76.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

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.