Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV Shares Bought by Scharf Investments LLC

Scharf Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 692,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 94,465 shares during the quarter. Franco-Nevada comprises 3.9% of Scharf Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.36% of Franco-Nevada worth $143,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada in the first quarter worth about $241,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 16.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 118.3% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 5,032 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Franco-Nevada by 800.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Franco-Nevada in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,859,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Franco-Nevada from $283.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Franco-Nevada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $225.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $228.00 price objective on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.25.

Franco-Nevada Stock Up 5.9%

Shares of Franco-Nevada stock opened at $247.27 on Wednesday. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a 12 month low of $140.03 and a 12 month high of $285.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.42. The stock has a market cap of $47.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.45.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $597.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.02 million. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 61.01%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 86.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.56%.

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.