FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of FirstService from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.33.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of FSV opened at $189.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. FirstService has a one year low of $134.77 and a one year high of $192.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.53. The stock has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.97 and a beta of 1.05.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.21. FirstService had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstService will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of FirstService

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstService by 8,066.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstService by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in FirstService by 49.6% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in FirstService by 20.5% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

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.