Short Interest in Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) Grows By 36.6%

Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, a growth of 36.6% from the February 28th total of 2,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 730,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FNV. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Franco-Nevada by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 407,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,623,000 after purchasing an additional 19,589 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 33.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 36,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,565,000 after buying an additional 9,119 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Franco-Nevada by 28.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,581 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Franco-Nevada by 8.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 89,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franco-Nevada in the third quarter valued at $151,000. 77.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FNV. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Franco-Nevada from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $152.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Franco-Nevada from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Franco-Nevada from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.50.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

Shares of Franco-Nevada stock opened at $157.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.73. Franco-Nevada has a one year low of $112.70 and a one year high of $159.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $143.77 and its 200-day moving average is $131.06.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Franco-Nevada had a positive return on equity of 10.55% and a negative net margin of 55.28%. The firm had revenue of $321.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Franco-Nevada will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Franco-Nevada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Franco-Nevada’s payout ratio is presently 53.15%.

Franco-Nevada Company Profile

Franco-Nevada Corporation operates as a gold-focused royalty and streaming company in South America, Central America, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through Mining and Energy segments. The company manages its portfolio with a focus on precious metals, such as gold, silver, and platinum group metals; and engages in the sale of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids through a third-party marketing agent.