Scharf Investments LLC Acquires 94,465 Shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV

Scharf Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 692,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,465 shares during the period. Franco-Nevada accounts for approximately 3.9% of Scharf Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Franco-Nevada were worth $143,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Franco-Nevada by 112.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada by 600.0% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Franco-Nevada from $283.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Franco-Nevada in a report on Friday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.25.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

Franco-Nevada stock opened at $247.27 on Wednesday. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $140.03 and a fifty-two week high of $285.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.67 billion, a PE ratio of 42.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $251.70 and its 200-day moving average is $223.42.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.18. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 61.01%.The firm had revenue of $597.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $542.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 86.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 3.09 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. Franco-Nevada’s payout ratio is 30.56%.

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.