FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $215.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. FirstService traded as high as $191.30 and last traded at $191.30, with a volume of 201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.98.

FSV has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in FirstService by 8,066.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in FirstService by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in FirstService by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in FirstService by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in FirstService by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.75 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.93.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FirstService Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s payout ratio is 49.50%.

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.