FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 487,570 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 152% from the previous session’s volume of 193,701 shares.The stock last traded at $158.7550 and had previously closed at $156.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FSV. BMO Capital Markets set a $209.00 target price on FirstService and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstService from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of FirstService in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. CIBC cut their target price on shares of FirstService from $225.00 to $216.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of FirstService from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.83.

FirstService Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.65.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.53% and a return on equity of 17.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. FirstService’s payout ratio is 36.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in FirstService by 100.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,475,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,634,000 after acquiring an additional 740,583 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of FirstService in the second quarter worth $93,904,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of FirstService in the second quarter worth $56,029,000. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in FirstService by 12.9% during the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 2,216,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $422,263,000 after purchasing an additional 253,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in FirstService by 79.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 318,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,880,000 after purchasing an additional 141,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Company Profile

FirstService Corporation, founded in 1989 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is a leading provider of property services in North America. The company operates through two principal segments—FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands—offering a broad range of services to residential, commercial and homeowner association clients.

FirstService Residential delivers community management, financial oversight and consulting services to thousands of residential communities across the United States and Canada.