Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 6,983 Shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 20.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,983 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Franco-Nevada were worth $6,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FNV. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Franco-Nevada by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Composition Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 6,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 5,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. now owns 1,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FNV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Franco-Nevada from $258.00 to $245.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $276.00 to $238.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. TD Securities raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $291.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from $290.00 to $274.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.40.

Franco-Nevada Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of FNV stock opened at $221.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $215.30 and a 200-day moving average of $236.45. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a 12-month low of $158.26 and a 12-month high of $285.67.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The basic materials company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.29. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 65.12%.The business had revenue of $650.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Franco-Nevada’s revenue for the quarter was up 76.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 8.23 EPS for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Franco-Nevada’s payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Franco-Nevada 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.