Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Grows Stock Position in FirstService Corporation $FSV

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 111.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,790 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in FirstService were worth $22,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in FirstService by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 25,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of FirstService by 26.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 44.1% in the third quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 144,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,551,000 after purchasing an additional 44,272 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in FirstService by 12.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 433,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,231,000 after buying an additional 46,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in FirstService by 2.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 275,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,169,000 after buying an additional 5,339 shares during the last quarter. 69.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstService Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FSV opened at $154.30 on Wednesday. FirstService Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $147.23 and a fifty-two week high of $209.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.83, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 1.06.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. FirstService had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 2.64%.The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of FirstService in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $202.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstService from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of FirstService from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstService from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.67.

About FirstService

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.