Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Sells 50,766 Shares of FirstService Corporation $FSV

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital sold 50,766 shares of FirstService in Q4, trimming its stake by 4.1% to 1,172,521 shares (about 2.56% of FirstService, ~$182.4M) and leaving FSV as its 8th-largest holding.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed-but-positive: eight Buy and two Hold ratings produce a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $204, amid several recent price-target adjustments.
• FirstService beat quarterly estimates with $0.95 EPS and $1.30B revenue (revenue +5.3% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.305 ($1.22 annualized, ~0.9% yield).

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,172,521 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 50,766 shares during the quarter. FirstService makes up about 3.1% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned about 2.56% of FirstService worth $182,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstService during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstService by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of FirstService during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstService by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of FirstService by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FSV. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on FirstService from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of FirstService in a research report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $202.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstService from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD boosted their price target on FirstService from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.00.

FirstService Stock Performance

FSV opened at $133.81 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 1.09. FirstService Corporation has a 1 year low of $132.24 and a 1 year high of $209.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 2.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Research analysts expect that FirstService Corporation will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.46%.

FirstService Company 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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