Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Position in Franco-Nevada Corporation $FNV

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) by 44.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 146,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 115,266 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Franco-Nevada were worth $30,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franco-Nevada during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FNV. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Franco-Nevada from $286.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Franco-Nevada in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Franco-Nevada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.75.

Franco-Nevada Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of FNV opened at $225.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $245.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.01. The company has a market capitalization of $43.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.34. Franco-Nevada Corporation has a 52-week low of $152.89 and a 52-week high of $285.67.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $650.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franco-Nevada Corporation will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Franco-Nevada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

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.