Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 3,080 Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,080 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in FirstService were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in FirstService by 17.4% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,364,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $334,631,000 after buying an additional 349,894 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 18.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 352,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,333,000 after buying an additional 55,095 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in FirstService by 30.1% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 233,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,237,000 after buying an additional 54,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in FirstService by 8.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstService by 7.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 462,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,267,000 after buying an additional 33,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on FirstService from $196.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet lowered FirstService from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Scotiabank started coverage on FirstService in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $187.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.86.

FirstService Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of FirstService stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.32. FirstService Co. has a 52-week low of $134.77 and a 52-week high of $171.94. The firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 67.92 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.04). FirstService had a net margin of 2.32% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. On average, analysts predict that FirstService Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.64%.

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.