Bessemer Group Inc. Grows Stake in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its FirstService stake by 52.2% in Q1, buying 65,830 additional shares to bring its holdings to 191,970 shares worth about $26.7 million.
• FirstService reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting $0.95 EPS versus $0.89 expected, while revenue rose 5.3% year over year to $1.30 billion.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with eight Buy ratings and three Hold ratings; the consensus price target is $195.89, above the recent share price of $148.46.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 52.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 65,830 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.42% of FirstService worth $26,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in FirstService by 493.4% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,775,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $432,173,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307,684 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its stake in FirstService by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 2,216,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $422,263,000 after purchasing an additional 253,155 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in FirstService by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,984,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $308,677,000 after buying an additional 530,489 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in FirstService by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $304,000,000 after buying an additional 29,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in FirstService by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,791,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $278,247,000 after buying an additional 239,941 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company's stock.

FirstService Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of FirstService stock opened at $148.46 on Friday. FirstService Corporation has a twelve month low of $119.41 and a twelve month high of $209.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $138.48 and its 200 day moving average is $145.91. The company has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.94.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that FirstService Corporation will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. FirstService's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FSV shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstService from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Securities set a $204.00 price objective on FirstService in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on FirstService in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $204.00 target price on shares of FirstService in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.89.

FirstService Profile

FirstService Corporation, founded in 1989 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is a leading provider of property services in North America. The company operates through two principal segments—FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands—offering a broad range of services to residential, commercial and homeowner association clients.

FirstService Residential delivers community management, financial oversight and consulting services to thousands of residential communities across the United States and Canada.

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