Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Franco-Nevada from $276.00 to $238.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $290.00 to $274.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $310.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franco-Nevada has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.40.

Franco-Nevada Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of FNV opened at $202.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.36. Franco-Nevada has a 12 month low of $152.89 and a 12 month high of $285.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.89.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.29. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 65.12% and a return on equity of 18.10%. The firm had revenue of $650.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 76.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Franco-Nevada will post 8.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $1,726,741,000 after buying an additional 113,916 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,441,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,542,402,000 after purchasing an additional 842,132 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 26.5% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,074,257 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 3.3% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,461,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $857,196,000 after buying an additional 110,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,808,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $582,177,000 after buying an additional 260,793 shares during the period. 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.