Hardy Reed LLC Acquires New Stake in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Hardy Reed LLC bought a new position in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in FirstService by 35.0% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of FirstService by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of FirstService by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in FirstService by 40.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FSV. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Securities raised their price objective on FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.33.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FSV opened at $194.04 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $185.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.09. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.85 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService Co. has a 12 month low of $141.26 and a 12 month high of $197.84.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 2.19%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. FirstService’s revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FirstService Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s payout ratio is currently 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.