Bank of Montreal Can Buys 90,545 Shares of FirstService Corporation $FSV

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 27.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 416,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,545 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.91% of FirstService worth $79,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of FirstService by 41.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 261,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,771,000 after purchasing an additional 77,179 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in FirstService by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 66,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,627,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in FirstService by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 24,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,647,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in FirstService by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of FirstService by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 147,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,015,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSV opened at $145.27 on Thursday. FirstService Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $144.49 and a fifty-two week high of $209.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.40 and a 200-day moving average of $167.39.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 18.69%. FirstService’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FSV. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $202.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of FirstService in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstService has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.67.

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.