FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $201.67.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James upped their price target on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in FirstService by 121.4% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 8,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 4,595 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in FirstService in the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 24.8% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 4.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of FSV stock opened at $170.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.75. FirstService has a 52 week low of $141.26 and a 52 week high of $197.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 57.34 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $175.68 and its 200-day moving average is $181.70.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.04%.

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.