FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $201.67.

FSV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Norges Bank bought a new position in FirstService during the fourth quarter worth about $98,615,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 486.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,308,000 after buying an additional 389,129 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in FirstService during the fourth quarter worth about $48,541,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in FirstService by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 656,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,767,000 after buying an additional 229,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in FirstService by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,138,000 after buying an additional 166,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSV opened at $174.62 on Friday. FirstService has a twelve month low of $141.26 and a twelve month high of $197.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.79 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $179.94 and a 200-day moving average of $182.05.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.67%.

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.