Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Stake in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in FirstService were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 126.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in FirstService by 28.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in FirstService during the third quarter worth about $85,000. First Bank & Trust raised its stake in FirstService by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in FirstService by 41.0% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of FSV opened at $149.80 on Friday. FirstService Co. has a 1-year low of $134.77 and a 1-year high of $171.94. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 74.16 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 16.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that FirstService Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. FirstService’s payout ratio is 49.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of FirstService in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of FirstService from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $187.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.86.

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.