Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,763 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franco-Nevada were worth $12,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FNV. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada during the 2nd quarter worth $52,816,000. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Franco-Nevada during the fourth quarter worth about $489,000. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 9.2% during the second quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 773,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,228,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Franco-Nevada during the second quarter worth about $626,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 70.5% during the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 160,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,477,000 after buying an additional 66,432 shares during the period. 77.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FNV. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $290.00 to $274.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franco-Nevada in a report on Friday, September 4th. National Bank Financial upgraded Franco-Nevada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Franco-Nevada from $258.00 to $245.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.40.

Franco-Nevada Stock Performance

Franco-Nevada stock opened at $265.66 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $232.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.90. The company has a market capitalization of $51.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $181.50 and a fifty-two week high of $285.67.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $580.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.66 million. Franco-Nevada had a net margin of 63.79% and a return on equity of 18.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 57.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Franco-Nevada’s payout ratio is presently 23.01%.

About Franco-Nevada

Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE: FNV) is a Canada-based royalty and streaming company focused primarily on precious metals. Rather than operating mines, the company provides upfront capital to mining and energy companies in exchange for the right to receive a portion of future production or revenue from designated assets.

Its portfolio is anchored by gold royalties and streams, with additional exposure to silver, platinum group metals and other mined commodities. Franco-Nevada also holds interests in certain energy assets, including oil and natural gas royalties.