Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $253,000 Position in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in FirstService were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FirstService by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of FirstService by 3.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in FirstService by 49.6% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in 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 valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in FirstService in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.67.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of FSV opened at $185.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.63 and a 200 day moving average of $180.74. The company has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.27 and a beta of 1.06. FirstService Co. has a 12 month low of $141.26 and a 12 month high of $197.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstService Co. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

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