Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $1.04 Million Stock Holdings in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in FirstService Corporation by 28.2% in Q1, owning 6,264 shares valued at approximately $1,039,000 after acquiring 1,376 additional shares.
• FirstService reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with EPS of $1.71 and revenue of $1.42 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275, yielding 0.6%, with a payout ratio of 35.26% as of the last earnings report.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in FirstService were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 11,711 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,120,000 after buying an additional 1,425 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstService by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in FirstService by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 238,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,168,000 after purchasing an additional 37,695 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in FirstService by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 22,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in FirstService by 262.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 12,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,221,000 after purchasing an additional 8,881 shares during the period. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.75.

FirstService Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FSV traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $195.91. The stock had a trading volume of 38,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.77 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.60. FirstService Corporation has a 52 week low of $153.13 and a 52 week high of $201.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.26. FirstService had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. FirstService's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.