FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV saw an uptick in 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 traded hands during 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.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FSV. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised FirstService from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstService currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstService

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FSV. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 1.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 164,183 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 49.6% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in FirstService by 160.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 6,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 3,806 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in FirstService by 3.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in FirstService by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 17,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 4,318 shares during the period. 69.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstService Stock Up 0.3 %

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $185.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The business's revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Research analysts expect that FirstService Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. FirstService's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.67%.

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.