Short Interest in Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) Expands By 36.6%

Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, an increase of 36.6% from the February 28th total of 2,050,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 730,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Franco-Nevada by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blossom Wealth Management grew its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 2,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FNV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities downgraded Franco-Nevada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $152.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Franco-Nevada from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Franco-Nevada from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.50.

Franco-Nevada Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Franco-Nevada stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $156.18. The company had a trading volume of 169,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,742. Franco-Nevada has a 12-month low of $112.70 and a 12-month high of $159.38. The stock has a market cap of $30.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.25, a PEG ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.60.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $321.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.33 million. Franco-Nevada had a positive return on equity of 10.55% and a negative net margin of 55.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Franco-Nevada will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio is 53.15%.

Franco-Nevada Company Profile

Franco-Nevada Corporation operates as a gold-focused royalty and streaming company in South America, Central America, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through Mining and Energy segments. The company manages its portfolio with a focus on precious metals, such as gold, silver, and platinum group metals; and engages in the sale of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids through a third-party marketing agent.