FirstService Corporation $FSV Stake Lifted by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 246,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,996 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in FirstService were worth $38,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FSV. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of FirstService in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,597,000. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in FirstService by 12.9% during the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 2,216,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $422,263,000 after buying an additional 253,155 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 79.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 318,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,880,000 after buying an additional 141,152 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in FirstService by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 421,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,645,000 after buying an additional 133,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstService by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 596,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,735,000 after buying an additional 98,808 shares in the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstService Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FSV opened at $143.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 40.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.95. FirstService Corporation has a 52 week low of $119.41 and a 52 week high of $209.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.27.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstService Corporation will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is 34.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FSV shares. TD raised their target price on shares of FirstService from $201.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstService from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $204.00 target price on shares of FirstService in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of FirstService in a report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Securities set a $204.00 target price on shares of FirstService in a report on Friday, April 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstService presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $197.22.

FirstService 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.