Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Invests $1.72 Million in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,717,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in FirstService during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Natixis lifted its position in FirstService by 5,511.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in FirstService by 158.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Gitterman Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on FSV. TD Securities raised their price objective on FirstService from $198.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered FirstService from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on FirstService from $217.50 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstService presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.33.

FirstService Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of FSV traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $173.47. 61,651 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 109,674. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 58.41 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average is $169.50 and its 200-day moving average is $178.58. FirstService Co. has a 52 week low of $141.26 and a 52 week high of $197.84. 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 (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.08. The business 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%. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstService Co. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. FirstService's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.06%.

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.