AJOVista LLC Buys Shares of 9,900 FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

AJOVista LLC bought a new position in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,604,000. FirstService comprises about 2.0% of AJOVista LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in FirstService by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,364,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,631,000 after acquiring an additional 349,894 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FirstService by 18.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 352,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,333,000 after buying an additional 55,095 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in FirstService by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 233,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,237,000 after buying an additional 54,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in FirstService by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 699,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,744,000 after buying an additional 53,041 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in FirstService by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 462,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,267,000 after acquiring an additional 33,438 shares during the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstService Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:FSV traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $149.54. The company had a trading volume of 107,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,119. FirstService Co. has a twelve month low of $134.77 and a twelve month high of $171.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.03 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.56.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.01). FirstService had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstService Co. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FSV. TheStreet downgraded shares of FirstService from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on FirstService from $196.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of FirstService in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of FirstService from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.00.

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.