Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 4,882 Shares of FirstService Corporation $FSV

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,882 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstService were worth $7,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstService by 3.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,925,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,773,000 after purchasing an additional 65,926 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of FirstService by 100.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,475,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,634,000 after purchasing an additional 740,583 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in shares of FirstService by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,423,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,636,000 after purchasing an additional 6,680 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in FirstService by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 586,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,482,000 after buying an additional 47,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in FirstService during the 2nd quarter worth $93,904,000. 69.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of FirstService in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $202.00 price target on shares of FirstService in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of FirstService in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.67.

FirstService Stock Performance

FSV opened at $148.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. FirstService Corporation has a 12-month low of $146.29 and a 12-month high of $209.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $156.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 47.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.05.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 18.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that FirstService Corporation will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. FirstService’s payout ratio is currently 34.81%.

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.