CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 2,358 Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lessened its stake in shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,358 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in FirstService were worth $3,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FSV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstService by 486.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,308,000 after buying an additional 389,129 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in FirstService by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,634,000 after buying an additional 10,191 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,138,000 after purchasing an additional 166,996 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 253.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares during the period. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,816,000. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company's stock.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of FSV traded up $1.93 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $174.03. The stock had a trading volume of 76,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,568. The company's 50-day moving average is $169.68 and its 200 day moving average is $179.28. FirstService Co. has a 12-month low of $141.26 and a 12-month high of $197.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.60 and a beta of 1.04.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 17.15% and a net margin of 2.58%. FirstService's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstService Co. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is an increase from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. FirstService's payout ratio is presently 38.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FSV. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of FirstService from $197.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstService from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstService from $217.50 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.00.

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.