FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) saw strong trading volume on Thursday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $225.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. 186,926 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 59% from the previous session’s volume of 117,671 shares.The stock last traded at $185.08 and had previously closed at $185.64.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in FirstService by 3.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of FirstService by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in FirstService by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in FirstService during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstService Trading Down 0.3 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.30. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 77.07 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstService Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.67%.

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.