Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 2,316,893 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 168% from the previous session’s volume of 865,599 shares.The stock last traded at $211.88 and had previously closed at $212.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FNV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $292.00 to $291.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Franco-Nevada from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. TD Securities upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.00.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $239.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.34.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $650.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. Franco-Nevada’s quarterly revenue was up 76.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 1.4% in 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 buying an additional 113,916 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 12.8% in 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 buying an additional 842,132 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 8.9% in 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 buying an additional 454,175 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,074,257 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 110,222 shares during the period. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.