Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Position in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn raised its stake in FirstService by 7.9% to 151,210 shares (about $28.8M), while institutional ownership totals ~69.35% and several other funds (e.g., Fenimore, Geode) also boosted positions.
• Analyst sentiment is positive: six analysts rate the stock a Buy and two a Hold, giving a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target price of about $211.67.
• FirstService beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.37 vs. $1.32; revenue $1.38B vs. $1.36B) and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.305 (annualized $1.22, ~0.9% yield).

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,101 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.33% of FirstService worth $28,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 12.0% during the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 25,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in FirstService by 26.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in FirstService by 2.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 275,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,169,000 after buying an additional 5,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in FirstService by 12.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 433,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,231,000 after buying an additional 46,333 shares during the period. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 144,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,551,000 after buying an additional 44,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $202.00 target price on shares of FirstService in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of FirstService in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.67.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSV opened at $141.96 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $156.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 44.92, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService Corporation has a 1-year low of $139.60 and a 1-year high of $209.66.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 18.69%. FirstService's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. FirstService's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.81%.

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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