Royce & Associates LP Boosts Stake in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in FirstService by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 12,718 shares to bring its total holding to 372,861 shares worth about $57.99 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions, and overall 69.35% of FirstService stock is held by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: FirstService has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a $196.89 price target, while the company also reported earnings that beat estimates and recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.305 per share.

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 372,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,718 shares during the quarter. FirstService accounts for 0.6% of Royce & Associates LP's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.82% of FirstService worth $57,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FSV. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 12.9% in the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 2,216,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $422,263,000 after buying an additional 253,155 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 79.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 318,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,880,000 after buying an additional 141,152 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in FirstService by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 596,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,735,000 after purchasing an additional 98,808 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in FirstService by 27.8% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 416,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $79,389,000 after purchasing an additional 90,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in FirstService by 89.4% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 190,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,715,000 after purchasing an additional 90,075 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FSV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital initiated coverage on FirstService in a research report on Monday, May 4th. They set a "hold" rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on FirstService from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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 target price on FirstService from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstService currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $196.89.

FirstService Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSV opened at $131.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. FirstService Corporation has a 52-week low of $119.41 and a 52-week high of $209.66. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $138.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.52. The company has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.97.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. FirstService had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 2.92%.The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FirstService Corporation will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. FirstService's payout ratio is presently 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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