FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.33.

FirstService Stock Up 0.0 %

FSV stock opened at $189.69 on Friday. FirstService has a 1-year low of $134.77 and a 1-year high of $192.71. The stock has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.91 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Analysts expect that FirstService will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in FirstService by 2,136.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,853,000 after acquiring an additional 199,937 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in FirstService by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,733,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,427,000 after buying an additional 174,970 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstService by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,654,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,363,000 after buying an additional 76,503 shares during the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstService during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,710,000. Finally, Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 25.3% during the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 246,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,008,000 after acquiring an additional 49,790 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstService Company Profile

FirstService Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides residential property management and other essential property services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands. The FirstService Residential segment offers services for private residential communities, such as condominiums, co-operatives, homeowner associations, master-planned communities, active adult and lifestyle communities, and various other residential developments.