FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstService from “hold” to “buy,” adding to a generally positive analyst backdrop for the stock.
• Several other firms have recently issued mixed target changes, but the consensus remains Moderate Buy, with eight Buy ratings and three Hold ratings and an average price target of $196.89.
• FirstService also reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.95 EPS versus $0.89 expected and revenue of $1.30 billion, up 5.3% year over year.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FSV. TD increased their target price on shares of FirstService from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of FirstService in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of FirstService from $217.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstService from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $196.89.

FirstService Price Performance

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $134.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.87 and a 200-day moving average of $152.48. The company has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.01, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.97. FirstService has a 52 week low of $124.37 and a 52 week high of $209.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstService

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,120,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 247,931 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,228,000 after purchasing an additional 7,136 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 15,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 6,394 shares during the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,837,000. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstService by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 144,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,551,000 after purchasing an additional 49,829 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.35% of the company's stock.

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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