FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) saw strong trading volume on Thursday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $225.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. 186,926 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 59% from the previous session’s volume of 117,671 shares.The stock last traded at $185.08 and had previously closed at $185.64.

FSV has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in FirstService in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of FirstService in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of FirstService during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in FirstService in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 69.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstService Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.07 and a beta of 1.06.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. FirstService’s revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that FirstService Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

About FirstService

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.