FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $225.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. 186,926 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 59% from the previous session’s volume of 117,671 shares.The stock last traded at $185.08 and had previously closed at $185.64.

Several other analysts have also commented on FSV. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in FirstService by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 164,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstService by 49.6% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of FirstService by 160.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 6,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 3,806 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 3.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in FirstService by 33.4% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 17,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,628,000 after acquiring an additional 4,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 77.07 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $185.64 and its 200-day moving average is $180.33.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstService Co. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. FirstService’s payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

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.