Wall Street Zen Downgrades Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) to Hold

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.75.

Franco-Nevada Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:FNV opened at $225.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.34. Franco-Nevada has a 52 week low of $152.89 and a 52 week high of $285.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $245.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.74.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (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 period last year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 76.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Franco-Nevada will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 1.4% during the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,441,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,542,402,000 after acquiring an additional 842,132 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,560,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,237,510,000 after acquiring an additional 454,175 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,074,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 260,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

About Franco-Nevada

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.