FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Upgraded 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 morning.

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

FirstService Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $189.69 on Friday. FirstService has a 52 week low of $134.77 and a 52 week high of $192.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $180.92 and its 200-day moving average is $164.48. The firm has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.91 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in FirstService by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 68,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,416,000 after purchasing an additional 27,871 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in FirstService in the 1st quarter valued at $862,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in FirstService by 99.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 9,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after acquiring an additional 4,952 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in FirstService by 103.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 8,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of FirstService by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 20,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 3,644 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

About FirstService

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.