Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Has $2.08 Million Stock Holdings in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. doubled its stake in FirstService during the first quarter, buying 7,500 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 15,000 shares worth about $2.08 million.
• Institutional investors remain heavily invested in the company, with Goldman Sachs, UBS, and others increasing positions; overall, 69.35% of FirstService stock is owned by institutions.
• FirstService recently beat earnings expectations with quarterly EPS of $0.95 versus $0.89 expected, while analysts currently maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and average target price of $195.56.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 100.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in FirstService were worth $2,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 318,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,880,000 after buying an additional 141,152 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in FirstService by 40.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,856,000 after acquiring an additional 17,072 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in FirstService during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 55.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 400.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. 69.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FSV shares. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $204.00 target price on shares of FirstService in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital initiated coverage on FirstService in a research note on Monday, May 4th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered FirstService from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on FirstService from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on FirstService from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.56.

FirstService Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of FSV opened at $143.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. FirstService Corporation has a one year low of $119.41 and a one year high of $209.66. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.94.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last issued 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. FirstService had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 2.92%.The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that FirstService Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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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