Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) Upgraded to “Buy” at TD

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was upgraded by TD from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm presently has a $291.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $292.00. TD’s price target indicates a potential upside of 28.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday. National Bank Financial raised Franco-Nevada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research lowered Franco-Nevada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $292.00 to $291.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a report on Friday, January 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.00.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FNV traded up $3.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $225.88. 397,240 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 861,300. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. Franco-Nevada has a 52 week low of $152.89 and a 52 week high of $285.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.27.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The basic materials company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $650.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.43 million. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 18.10% and a net margin of 65.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 76.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $1,726,741,000 after purchasing an additional 113,916 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 12.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Franco-Nevada by 8.9% during 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 in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 5,123,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,062,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,461,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $857,196,000 after purchasing an additional 110,222 shares in the last quarter. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.