FirstService Corporation $FSV Stock Holdings Increased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. raised its stake in FirstService by 40.5% to 137,612 shares (about $21.4M), representing roughly 0.30% ownership of the company.
• Analysts hold a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $207.86; seven analysts rate Buy and two rate Hold, while TD Securities and TD Cowen recently trimmed targets to $201 but kept Buy ratings.
• FirstService beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.37 vs. $1.32) on $1.38B revenue and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.305 (annualized $1.22, ~0.8% yield).

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 39,686 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.30% of FirstService worth $21,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FSV. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstService in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 63.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of FirstService in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 400.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 300.0% in 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 in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FSV shares. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of FirstService from $217.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of FirstService from $217.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of FirstService in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $202.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstService presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.86.

FirstService Stock Up 0.1%

FSV stock opened at $149.25 on Thursday. FirstService Corporation has a 52-week low of $133.42 and a 52-week high of $209.66. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $147.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.99. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.09.

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

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.61%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.