Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Holdings in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in FirstService Corporation by 32.1%, acquiring an additional 13,183 shares, bringing its total to 54,244 shares, valued at approximately $8.99 million.
• Several institutional investors have also increased their stakes, with Price T. Rowe Associates and TD Asset Management boosting their holdings by 53.9% and 61.6%, respectively.
• FirstService recently reported earnings of $1.71 per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.26, with revenue rising 9.1% year-over-year to $1.42 billion.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 32.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,183 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.12% of FirstService worth $8,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 2.8% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 9.6% in the first quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 2,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstService in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,690,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 11.0% in the first quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 39,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 23.3% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 5,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstService Trading Up 1.2%

FirstService stock traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $199.79. 117,274 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 144,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $185.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.04 and a beta of 0.95. FirstService Corporation has a 52-week low of $153.13 and a 52-week high of $201.67.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.61% and a return on equity of 18.24%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FSV. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of FirstService from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstService has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.75.

FirstService Profile

FirstService Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides residential property management and other essential property services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands. The FirstService Residential segment offers services for private residential communities, such as condominiums, co-operatives, homeowner associations, master-planned communities, active adult and lifestyle communities, and various other residential developments.