FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $211.6667.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of FirstService from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $202.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of FirstService in a research note on Monday, December 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FSV. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 493.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,775,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,173,000 after buying an additional 2,307,684 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in FirstService by 12.9% in the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 2,216,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $422,263,000 after acquiring an additional 253,155 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in FirstService by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,984,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $308,677,000 after acquiring an additional 530,489 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstService by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000,000 after acquiring an additional 29,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in FirstService by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,791,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $278,247,000 after acquiring an additional 239,941 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $155.75 on Friday. FirstService has a 52 week low of $147.23 and a 52 week high of $209.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. FirstService had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 2.64%.The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that FirstService will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.81%.

About FirstService

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.