FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $186.00.

Several research firms have weighed in on FSV. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of FirstService from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet cut FirstService from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on FirstService from $196.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $187.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSV opened at $149.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $161.56 and its 200 day moving average is $158.34. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.16 and a beta of 0.97. FirstService has a 1-year low of $134.77 and a 1-year high of $171.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 2.02%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstService will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.51%.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in FirstService during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,488,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,364,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,631,000 after purchasing an additional 349,894 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 245.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 338,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,803,000 after purchasing an additional 240,303 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth $38,318,000. Finally, LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FirstService in the fourth quarter worth $15,557,000. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Company Profile

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.