FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) Stake Cut by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its position in shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 36.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,350,212 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 764,380 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 2.98% of FirstService worth $244,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in FirstService by 486.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,308,000 after acquiring an additional 389,129 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of FirstService by 5.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,634,000 after buying an additional 10,191 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in FirstService by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,138,000 after purchasing an additional 166,996 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 253.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,816,000. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $197.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on FirstService from $217.50 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut FirstService from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.00.

FirstService Stock Performance

FirstService stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.25. 113,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 109,203. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $169.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.19. FirstService Co. has a twelve month low of $141.26 and a twelve month high of $197.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 59.01 and a beta of 1.04.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 17.15% and a net margin of 2.58%. FirstService's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that FirstService Co. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. FirstService's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.06%.

FirstService Company 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.