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

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.33.

FSV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

FirstService Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $189.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 93.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. FirstService has a fifty-two week low of $134.77 and a fifty-two week high of $192.03.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that FirstService will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is 49.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstService by 40.6% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.