Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) Short Interest Up 36.6% in March

Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, an increase 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 presently 3.8 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franco-Nevada

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 105,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,359,000 after acquiring an additional 27,299 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Franco-Nevada by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,132,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Franco-Nevada during the fourth quarter worth about $641,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Franco-Nevada by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 99,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,662,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Franco-Nevada from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James increased their target price on Franco-Nevada from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Franco-Nevada from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franco-Nevada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franco-Nevada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.50.

Franco-Nevada Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FNV traded up $0.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $156.18. The stock had a trading volume of 169,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,742. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $142.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.60. Franco-Nevada has a fifty-two week low of $112.70 and a fifty-two week high of $159.38. The company has a market cap of $30.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.25, a PEG ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.73.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV) (TSE:FNV) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $321.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Franco-Nevada’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Franco-Nevada will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franco-Nevada Increases Dividend

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