Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $225.70 and last traded at $225.3390, with a volume of 752985 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $217.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FNV. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Franco-Nevada from $211.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $228.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.75.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $203.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.19. The stock has a market cap of $43.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.48.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $487.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $448.51 million. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 59.48%.Franco-Nevada’s quarterly revenue was up 76.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 4th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Franco-Nevada in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Franco-Nevada in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 78.3% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 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.